The difference between Motley and Rainbow
When used as nouns, motley means an incongruous mixture, whereas rainbow means a multicoloured arch in the sky, produced by prismatic refraction of light within droplets of rain in the air.
When used as adjectives, motley means comprising greatly varied elements, to the point of incongruity, whereas rainbow means multicolored.
Rainbow is also verb with the meaning: to pattern with many colours, like a rainbow.
check bellow for the other definitions of Motley and Rainbow
-
Motley as an adjective:
Comprising greatly varied elements, to the point of incongruity; heterogeneous.
-
Motley as an adjective:
Having many colours; variegated.
-
Motley as a noun:
An incongruous mixture.
-
Motley as a noun:
A jester's multicoloured clothes.
-
Motley as a noun (by extension):
A jester; a fool.
-
Rainbow as a noun:
A multicoloured arch in the sky, produced by prismatic refraction of light within droplets of rain in the air.
-
Rainbow as a noun:
Any prismatic refraction of light showing a spectrum of colours.
-
Rainbow as a noun (often used with “of”):
A wide assortment; a varied multitude.
Examples:
"a rainbow of possibilities"
-
Rainbow as a noun (figurative):
An illusion, mirage.
Examples:
"Many electoral promises are rainbows, vanishing soon after poll day."
-
Rainbow as a noun (baseball):
A curveball, particularly a slow one.
-
Rainbow as a noun (poker slang):
In Texas hold 'em or Omaha hold 'em, a flop that contains three different suits.
-
Rainbow as a noun:
Rainbow trout.
-
Rainbow as an adjective:
Multicolored.
-
Rainbow as an adjective (attributive, chiefly, US):
Made up of several races or ethnicities, or (more broadly) of several cultural or ideological factions.
-
Rainbow as an adjective (attributive):
LGBT.
-
Rainbow as an adjective (poker, chiefly, of a flop):
Composed entirely of different suits.
-
Rainbow as a verb (transitive):
To pattern with many colours, like a rainbow.