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patchy

[pach-ee] / ˈpætʃ i /


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

On Friday patchy rain will spread in from the west, followed by showers in the north-west on Saturday and in the south.

From BBC Sep. 17, 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

I wondered if McGregor would have quibbled with his Obi-Wan’s patchy blond beard, but when I went back and double-checked the film, it is that scraggly.

From Los Angeles Times Sep. 8, 2026

She doesn’t run the same in those patchy old shoes.

From "I Am the Messenger" by Markus Zusak

The rain is likely to be lighter and patchier in the Midlands, southern and east England with just a few millimetres expected and some areas could miss out altogether.

From BBC Jul. 22, 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

And returns on investment have been patchier because of its aggressive spending.

From The Wall Street Journal Dec. 5, 2025

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




Vocabulary lists containing patchy


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