patchy

The Asian Games in Japan will close later Sunday after a fortnight of record-smashing displays from young stars, but marred by mix-ups, patchy crowds and accusations of mismanagement.

From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026

"Unlike typical shallow reefs, it does not always form a single continuous reef structure. Instead, it can appear as patchy or scattered coral communities spread across the seafloor."

From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026

Internal migration data is patchy, but the most recent data from Spain in 2024 showed northern provinces were growing as Spaniards migrated there from other parts of the country.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026

England and Wales will stay largely dry with sunny spells and patchy rain in the west later.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

Good guy, but he looks mad wild because his hair is patchy since he cuts it himself to save a few bucks, which is crazy stupid because Tagoe is a haircut artist.

From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera

The rain is likely to turn patchier later in the night with a few cloud breaks likely to develop.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

"In some catchments where permafrost has become patchier, weathering-driven carbon uptake was large enough to offset or even exceed river CO2 emissions."

From Science Daily ● Jun. 20, 2026

Things are patchier in the condo market. Realtor.com reports significant price increases in neighborhoods such as the Financial District-adjacent enclave Jackson Square.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 15, 2026

Surveillance outside of farms was even patchier than on them, and bird flu tests have been hard to get.

From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2024

Despite being undead, he’d grown into adulthood: his fur patchier, his whiskers more snarled, his eye socket wider.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman

The true severity of the problem isn’t always easy to ascertain, because, almost by definition, things tend to be worst in the places where record-keeping is patchiest.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 25, 2015

The Collegiate Chorale lent the music an epic quality; still, its twinkling palette aside, this was the patchiest and least satisfying of the distillations.

From New York Times ● Aug. 14, 2011

It didn’t take long for her to select the most crooked, most pathetic, patchiest pine tree in the bunch.

From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser

Closely confined between the Rockies to the right and the Selkirks to the west, the river held undeviatingly to its general northwesterly course, with only the patchiest of flats on either side.

From Down the Columbia by Lewis R. (Lewis Ransome) Freeman