wet
Americanadjective
-
wetter,
comparative
-
wettest
superlative
-
moistened, covered, or soaked with water or some other liquid.
wet hands.
- Antonyms:
- dry
-
in a liquid form or state.
wet paint.
-
characterized by the presence or use of water or other liquid.
-
moistened or dampened with rain; rainy.
Wet streets make driving hazardous.
- Synonyms:
- misty
-
allowing or favoring the sale of alcoholic beverages.
a wet town.
-
characterized by frequent rain, mist, etc..
the wet season.
-
laden with a comparatively high percent of moisture or vapor, especially water vapor.
There was a wet breeze from the west.
- Synonyms:
- humid
-
Informal.
-
marked by drinking.
a wet night.
-
using water or done under or in water, as certain chemical, mining, and manufacturing processes.
noun
-
something that is or makes wet, as water or other liquid; moisture.
The wet from the earth had made the basement unlivable.
- Synonyms:
- humidity
-
damp weather; rain.
Stay out of the wet as much as possible.
- Synonyms:
- drizzle
-
a person in favor of allowing the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages.
-
Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. wetback.
verb (used with object)
-
wets,
present (3rd person singular)
-
wet,
past participle, past
-
wetted,
past participle, past
-
wetting
present participle
-
to make (something) wet, as by moistening or soaking (sometimes followed by through ordown ).
Wet your hands before soaping them.
-
to urinate on or in.
The dog had wet the carpet.
verb (used without object)
-
wets,
present (3rd person singular)
-
wet,
past participle, past
-
wetted,
past participle, past
-
wetting
present participle
-
to become wet (sometimes followed by through ordown ).
Dampness may cause plastered walls to wet. My jacket has wet through.
-
(of animals and children) to urinate.
idioms
adjective
-
moistened, covered, saturated, etc, with water or some other liquid
-
not yet dry or solid
wet varnish
-
rainy, foggy, misty, or humid
wet weather
-
employing a liquid, usually water
a wet method of chemical analysis
-
characterized by or permitting the free sale of alcoholic beverages
a wet state
-
informal feeble or foolish
-
informal immature or inexperienced; naive
noun
-
wetness or moisture
-
damp or rainy weather
-
informal a Conservative politician who is considered not to be a hard-liner Compare dry
-
informal a feeble or foolish person
-
a person who advocates free sale of alcoholic beverages
-
(in northern and central Australia) the rainy season
verb
-
to make or become wet
-
to urinate on (something)
-
dialect (tr) to prepare (tea) by boiling or infusing
-
informal to take an alcoholic drink
Synonym Usage
Wet, drench, saturate, soak imply moistening something. To wet is to moisten in any manner with water or other liquid: to wet or dampen a cloth. Drench suggests wetting completely as by a downpour: A heavy rain drenched the fields. Saturate implies wetting to the limit of absorption: to saturate a sponge. To soak is to keep in a liquid for a time: to soak beans before baking.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
wetnessnoun
-
wettabilitynoun
-
wetternoun
-
rewetverb
-
nonwettedadjective
-
unwetadjective
-
unwettedadjective
-
wettableadjective
-
wettishadjective
-
wetlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
wetsimple
-
wetssimple
-
have wetperfect
-
have wettedperfect
-
has wetperfect
-
has wettedperfect
-
am wettingprogressive
-
are wettingprogressive
-
is wettingprogressive
-
have been wettingperfect progressive
-
has been wettingperfect progressive
Past
-
wetsimple
-
wettedsimple
-
had wetperfect
-
had wettedperfect
-
was wettingprogressive
-
were wettingprogressive
-
had been wettingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of wet
First recorded before 900; Middle English wett, past participle of weten, Old English wǣtan “to wet”; replacing Middle English weet, Old English wǣt, cognate with Old Frisian wēt, Old Norse vātr; akin to water
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Finish the batter: Fold the dry ingredients into the wet just until combined, then fold in the carrots and candied peel, if using.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
The primary suite boasts a glass wall and a Zen-inspired bathroom with a wet room that includes a shower and a soaking tub.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
“But this is good for him to learn, just to play in different venues and travel around and get his feet wet playing covers.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
It was so hot at points during their U.K. trip that they covered themselves with wet towels to cool down at night, since their hotels didn’t have air conditioning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Without the moon or even starlight I had no idea where the puddles were until they splashed me—largely in the face—so I was soon dripping wet.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
Alternatively although less likely, high pressure may be weaker, allowing low pressure systems to more readily infiltrate from the west, bringing cooler and wetter conditions.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
Reservoirs are vital for water supply because they store excess rainwater from wetter months and hold it for use during drier summer periods.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
During its tenure, El Niño often brings wetter conditions to the Southern United States.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
This period, known as the middle Holocene, came thousands of years after the last Ice Age and was generally wetter than today.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026
It didn’t matter—Hazel’s jeans could not be wetter than they already were.
From "Breadcrumbs" by Anne Ursu
Attention is now turning to July, the wettest month of India's monsoon season.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
That came shortly after one of the UK's wettest winters on record in 2023-24, which triggered widespread flooding.
From BBC ● May 19, 2026
At the moment it looks like the wettest of the conditions will be across northern and western parts of the UK with drier conditions further south and east.
From BBC ● May 13, 2026
His www.weathertrends360.com External link forecasts show that “This year we have it even wetter, and by late Summer-Fall we have it the wettest for the U.S. in 8 years.”
From Barron's ● Apr. 20, 2026
I dried myself, changed, combed my hair, and spread out some of my wettest clothing to dry.
From "Kindred" by Octavia Butler
And somehow, a man who openly parties so hard that he unabashedly wets the bed very much is.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2023
Highs will bounce around in the 50s over the next few days as a slug of widespread rainfall wets pavement across the Seattle area.
From Seattle Times ● May 5, 2023
And as the rain came down in the closing laps, initially only lightly, both were in a quandary - stay out on slick dry-weather tyres, or come in for treaded wets?
From BBC ● Nov. 30, 2021
Hauser has found that people will give their lawns a quick watering in the morning and evening, but that can be a wasted effort that wets the soil’s surface and doesn’t get to the roots.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 20, 2021
She rolls over and wets a few paper towels in her sink.
From "Popcorn" by Rob Harrell
Several people wetted shirts in the river, then put them back on.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2025
According to the City of Seattle, both unwanted fireplace ash and BBQ coals should be cooled, wetted, bagged and disposed of in the trash.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 22, 2024
Dr. Jay has studied the body’s responses to sitting near an electric fan, wearing wetted clothing and sponging down with water.
From New York Times ● Jun. 13, 2022
It’s great spectator sport, and if you’re willing to be wetted with spray for long enough, you can see a man haul in a striped bass that measures from his shoulder to his ankle.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 3, 2020
Then she wetted a tenugui and washed herself with soap, rinsing by pouring the bowl on herself.
From "A Place to Belong" by Cynthia Kadohata
If infected rodents are confirmed on board, public-health officials might require a thorough decontamination—a process that, according to the CDC, involves wetting all surfaces with disinfectants before cleaning to avoid sending virus particles airborne.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 4, 2026
But at Dilley, she regressed behaviorally, wetting herself after years without accidents and begging to breastfeed again despite being 6 years old.
From Slate ● Feb. 3, 2026
Children may have heavier nappies or they may start wetting the bed because they're peeing more.
From BBC ● Jan. 20, 2026
You never want to be their target, but watching their vicious crowd work from a safe distance mainly places you in danger of wetting yourself with a spit-take.
From Salon ● Jan. 15, 2026
Me tore the envelope open, wetting the paper, and pulled out a folded poster that said in large letters: LECTURE!
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
