patchier; patchiest
1
: marked by, consisting of, or diversified with patches
2
: irregular in appearance, makeup, or quality
Examples of patchy in a Sentence
The lawn is kind of patchy this year.
Patchy fog made driving difficult.
His knowledge of the language is patchy.
She has only a patchy understanding of his condition.
Recent Examples on the Web
Still, the patchy effectiveness of the older Perspective API serves as a reminder of the pitfalls of relying on AI to make value judgments about language.
—
Billy Perrigo, TIME, 15 Apr. 2024
Up close, Bartholomew has a rosy, patchy complexion, and his white beard looks almost like a rectangle of smoke spreading south from his chin.
—Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 10 Apr. 2024
Yet after both Hong Kong and mainland China lowered COVID restrictions, Cathay, like many other airlines, had a patchy recovery.
—Lionel Lim, Fortune Asia, 28 Mar. 2024
The 27-year-old had unruly black hair, a boy-band face, and a patchy beard.
—Leif Wenar, WIRED, 2 Apr. 2024
On Saturday, there was a 70% chance of rain and snow showers before 10 p.m. with patchy blowing snow after 2 a.m.
—Abigail Celaya, The Arizona Republic, 29 Mar. 2024
The Wi-Fi is a boon for those living in rural areas who wouldn't be able to use the monitoring service because of patchy cellular coverage.
—PCMAG, 21 Mar. 2024
As a premise for an inspirational sports drama, that’s close to unbeatable, and no amount of rote writing in Frank Cottrell-Boyce’s patchy script can dim the film’s lump-in-the-throat effectiveness.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 21 Mar. 2024
The self-tanning industry has come a long, long way since those patchy orange lotions and potions of my teens.
—Kara Nesvig, Allure, 21 Mar. 2024
Billy Perrigo, TIME, 15 Apr. 2024
Up close, Bartholomew has a rosy, patchy complexion, and his white beard looks almost like a rectangle of smoke spreading south from his chin.
—Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 10 Apr. 2024
Yet after both Hong Kong and mainland China lowered COVID restrictions, Cathay, like many other airlines, had a patchy recovery.
—Lionel Lim, Fortune Asia, 28 Mar. 2024
The 27-year-old had unruly black hair, a boy-band face, and a patchy beard.
—Leif Wenar, WIRED, 2 Apr. 2024
On Saturday, there was a 70% chance of rain and snow showers before 10 p.m. with patchy blowing snow after 2 a.m.
—Abigail Celaya, The Arizona Republic, 29 Mar. 2024
The Wi-Fi is a boon for those living in rural areas who wouldn't be able to use the monitoring service because of patchy cellular coverage.
—PCMAG, 21 Mar. 2024
As a premise for an inspirational sports drama, that’s close to unbeatable, and no amount of rote writing in Frank Cottrell-Boyce’s patchy script can dim the film’s lump-in-the-throat effectiveness.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 21 Mar. 2024
The self-tanning industry has come a long, long way since those patchy orange lotions and potions of my teens.
—Kara Nesvig, Allure, 21 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'patchy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near patchy
Cite this Entry
“Patchy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/patchy. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
patchy
adjective
patchier; patchiest
: consisting of or marked by patches : resembling patchwork
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