inkblot

English

Etymology

From ink +‎ blot.

Pronunciation

• (Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈɪŋkˌblɑt/

Noun

inkblot (plural inkblots)

1. A blot of ink.
   • 1922, Stephen Vincent Benét, Young People's Pride:

     A note from Deller with five pencil sketches attached of the new trade figures for Brittlekin -- two bloated looking children with inkblot eyes looking greedily at an enormous bar of peanut candy.

2. (figuratively) A dark, shapeless object.
   • 1916, Joseph Conrad, Within the Tides:

     In the morning he watched with unseeing eyes the headland come out a shapeless inkblot against the thin light of the false dawn, ...

3. (psychology) Any of the pictures used as stimuli in the Rorschach inkblot test.
   • 1998, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV, episode 3.04)

     Look, I know that I have to do this, and I'll cooperate, and I'll look at your inkblots and everything, but I don't wanna talk about my life or my childhood or... anything, for that matter, actually.

Derived terms

• inkblot test

See also

• klecksography