What does dappled mean?
Word: Dappled
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Dappled means marked with patches of light and shade, or with patches of a different colour.
Synonyms: speckled, mottled
Antonyms: plain
How do you spell dappled?
Syllables: dap - pled
Tricky part: There is a double p, and students often slip an extra vowel into the end of the word.
Watch out for: dapled, dappeled, dappld
Memory tip: Two p's for the two things you see in dappled light: patches of sun and patches of shade.
Dappled in a sentence
Example 1: Sunlight fell through the mango trees and left dappled shadows on the ground.
Example 2: The dappled deer was hard to spot among the leaves.
Example 3: She rode a dappled grey pony at the village fair.
Fun Fact
The poet Gerard Manley Hopkins opened his poem Pied Beauty by giving thanks for dappled things.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word:
dappled
a) spotted
b) smooth
c) striped
d) faded
Show answer
a) spotted. Dappled things have spots or patches, so spotted is the closest word.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the correctly spelt word:
a) glitterring
b) dappled
c) freckeled
d) speckeld
Show answer
b) dappled. Freckled and speckled are misspelt here and glittering has one r too many, so dappled is the word to tick.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
d_ppl_d
a) a, e
b) e, e
c) o, e
d) a, i
Show answer
a) a, e. The word starts like dad and ends like puzzled, so a first and e last.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
lddepap
a) paddled
b) dangled
c) dappled
d) applied
Show answer
c) dappled. Two p's and two d's: paddled needs three d's, applied an i, and dangled an n and a g.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of these is most like a dappled pattern?
a) a plain white wall
b) a zebra's neat stripes
c) a giraffe's patchy coat
d) a crow's black feathers
Show answer
c) a giraffe's patchy coat
2. The sunlight under the trees was dappled. What did the ground look like?
a) dark all over
b) bright all over
c) bright spots mixed with shadows
d) wet and shiny all over
Show answer
c) bright spots mixed with shadows
