chequered
/ˈtʃɛkəd
/(US checkered)
adjective
1Having a pattern consisting of alternating squares of different colours: a blue and white chequered tablecloth...
- The wooden board had a checkered pattern of sixty-four black and white squares and a compartment on either side of the board.
- Modern checkered patterns and jacquards and high-quality uni-colours are the most popular in the international market this spring.
- The modern game dates from the 15th century, when the board of squares became chequered and the pieces gained their present form.
Synonyms
checked, multicoloured, many-coloured, harlequin, varicoloured, particoloured
2Marked by periods of varied fortune or discreditable incidents: the chequered history of post-war Britain...
- What was Adams thinking when he hired a man with a checkered past and a history of skirting the rules?
- The story, a labyrinthine mystery set in 1830s France, concerns a brilliant detective with a checkered past on the trail of a potentially supernatural killer who wears a featureless, reflective mask.
- He pokes fun at his checkered past by greeting concert audiences with the catchphrase, ‘Good to be here, good to be anywhere.’
Synonyms
varied, mixed, eventful, full of ups and downs, up and down;
unsettled, unstable, irregular, erratic, inconstant, fluctuating, changeful;
diverse, diversified, multifaceted, many-faceted
rare vicissitudinous
- make free with
- make fun of
- make good
- make good one's escape
- make (great) play of (or with)
- make hard work of
- make haste
- make hay (while the sun shines)
- make head or tail of
- make heavy weather of
- make history
- make it a rule to do something
- make it big
- make it (or things) hot for
- make it snappy
- makeless
- make light of
- make light work of
- make like
- make little of
- make love
- Makem
- make merry
- make mincemeat of
- makemono