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spotty

adjective

  1. intermittent
  2. covered in dots
L340689 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

adj

Etymology: From Middle English spotty, equivalent to spot + -y.

  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”

    “Many of the buyers had a spotty credit history.”

  4. Inconsistent: not reliably good, sometimes bad.

    “Near-synonyms: shoddy, iffy”

    “Many of the low-cost accessories (cords, chargers, etc) sold in the dollar store had spotty quality.”

noun

Etymology: From Middle English spotty, equivalent to spot + -y.

  1. A common New Zealand fish, Notolabrus celidotus

    “I went fishing today and all I caught were spotties.”