spotty
adjective, noun
spotty is spelled S-P-O-T-T-Y: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,168th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, spotty means “Having spots; spotted” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in spotty?
| Letters | 6: S-P-O-T-T-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 31,168th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is spotty?
Spotty appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,168th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce spotty?
- Australia
Spotty has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-spotty.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of spotty
- spottier comparative
- spottiest superlative
- spotties plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does spotty mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Having spots; spotted.
- 2
Occurring in non-contiguous positions or locations.
Mobile phone reception in this area tends to be rather spotty.
- 3
Of inconsistent quality.
Near-synonyms: shoddy, iffy
- 4
Inconsistent: not reliably good, sometimes bad.
Near-synonyms: shoddy, iffy
noun
- 1
A common New Zealand fish, Notolabrus celidotus
I went fishing today and all I caught were spotties.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Spotty in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | fleckig, gefleckt , durchwachsen |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does spotty come from?
From Middle English spotty, equivalent to spot + -y.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).