bedwetting

or bed-wet·ting

[ bed-wet-ing ]

noun

1. urinating in bed, especially habitually and involuntarily; enuresis.
2. Informal: Often Disparaging. exhibition of emotional overreaction, as anxiety or alarm, to events, especially major decisions or outcomes:

   No doubt the executive order will be received by environmentalists with the usual bedwetting.

adjective

1. Informal: Sometimes Disparaging. prone to or exhibiting excessive anxiety or alarm over events, especially major decisions or outcomes; fearful; fretful:

   This station has given bedwetting conspiracy theorists ample airtime.

Word History and Origins

Origin of bedwetting¹

First recorded in 1885–90; bed + wet + -ing ¹ for the verb senses; bed + wet + -ing ² for the adjective sense

Example Sentences

Some friends saw JonBenet's bedwetting and other problems with toilet training as a protest against the pressure of the pageants.

From The Daily Beast