wet
wet Lexical Profile
wet Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Covered, soaked, or saturated with water or another liquid.
"She hung the wet towels on the line to dry in the afternoon sun."
Characterized by frequent or heavy rainfall; rainy.
"The region experiences a warm, wet climate throughout the summer months."
Not yet dried, hardened, or set (especially of paint, ink, cement, or plaster).
"Please do not touch the bench because the paint is still wet."
British Lacking forcefulness, courage, or decisiveness; feeble or overly sentimental (informal).
"He thought the new committee leader was a bit wet and easily intimidated."
• verb
To cover, moisten, or soak something with water or another liquid.
"Wet the cloth with warm water before wiping down the kitchen counter."
To urinate in or on clothing or bedding involuntarily.
"The young child occasionally wet the bed during the night."
• noun
Liquid that makes something damp or soaked, or rainy weather.
"Come inside out of the cold and the wet before you catch a chill."
British A conservative politician who holds moderate or liberal views on social and economic policies, or a feeble, indecisive person (informal).
"During the 1980s, moderate members of the party were often labeled as wets by hardliners."
Word Nuance & Usage
As a verb, both 'wet' and 'wetted' are acceptable past tense and past participle forms, though 'wet' is more common in everyday speech and 'wetted' is preferred in technical or passive contexts (such as 'the surface was wetted').
• Rhymes for wet
Word Origin & Etymology
From Old English wæt ('moist, rainy, liquid'), derived from Proto-Germanic *wētaz and ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root *wed- ('water, wet'), making it a direct cognate of the English word 'water'.