That which exhibits different tones without combination can be classified as variegated.
Variegated is an adjective that derives from abigarrar , a verb that refers to combining colors in an incorrect way or to piling up heterogeneous elements without coherence. Something variegated, therefore, exhibits different tones without combination or brings together multiple unequal things .
For example: “The actor's motley wardrobe surprised the press,” “I was struck by the motley landscape of the city, which is full of multicolored buildings,” “The motley text that this journalist published is impossible to understand since it is incoherent."
Variegated, the opposite of harmonious
The use of this concept is not very frequent. It must be taken into account that the qualification made by the adjective has a negative connotation : the word indicates that there is something that is not well combined or that lacks harmony . If someone mentions that a celebrity's appearance at a certain event was “variegated,” they will be referring to an unconventional appearance or one that is far from current style norms. It would be different if it were classified as elegant , to cite one of the opposite possibilities.
The use of colors to complement a person's appearance is usually present in their clothing, makeup and hair . It is possible, therefore, to speak of variegated makeup to refer to a combination that is too busy and not very harmonious, something very typical of those people who do not have experience in the use of these products and in the different recommended techniques, but also by those who use exaggerated amounts in their desire to hide certain facial defects or signs of aging.
Something variegated tends to be extravagant.
The extravagance
A motley appearance may be typical of an extravagant person; Let us not forget that the term extravagant is defined as something or someone that is not within the scope of normality, and that does not have a negative connotation in itself. Each social group reacts in a different way to individuals who stand out for their appearance or their way of acting: while extravagances may be admired by some, others may condemn them.
An adjective that comes close to variegated in meaning but lacks any negative connotation is variegated . It is a term used to denote the variety of characteristics or elements that a place or a group of people or objects presents, among other possibilities. For example, we can say that the city we visited during the holidays was diverse, or that the audience present at a concert was diverse, and in both cases the variety is perceived positively.
The variegated as something difficult to reconcile
The second meaning of the notion is linked to the difficulty or impossibility of reconciling elements that are very different from each other .
Suppose a newspaper describes a political alliance as a “variegated electoral front” : the author of the article will be highlighting that the front is made up of people with dissimilar ideas. Therefore, an eventual government of this alliance could face multiple internal problems. As you can see, this use of variegated is rather symbolic or metaphorical, since the differences are not color or physical.
a pileup
Although dictionaries only include the two meanings just mentioned of the term motley, there is a third that is not uncommon to find in the press or even in literature: "cramped, packed." It is important to make it clear that this is an error , which probably arose due to the similarity with the word crowded .
This idea of overabundance or crowding that is erroneously associated with the term variegated has not arisen capriciously , but largely because of its true meanings, since the combination of heterogeneous elements or dissonant colors can only be carried out by force , uniting the elements without paying attention to the result.