bedraggle
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Etymology
Origin of bedraggle
Explanation
Bedraggle is a verb that means to make disheveled, wet, and dirty. Rain and mud bedraggle children who go tromping through the outdoors in their dressiest clothes right before family pictures. Bedraggle is a word that was probably very common in the early 1700s when people started using it. If a lady walked along the old, unpaved streets, it would bedraggle the bottom of her hoop skirt, and a gentleman might have set his coat down for her to walk on. Today we're more likely to use verbs like drench or soil instead, and, for the most part, to wear more sensible clothes.
Vocabulary lists containing bedraggle
Quiz yourself on these words spoken by the man at the center of the "Laurel" / "Yanny" craze!
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
The House of the Spirits
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Copper Sun
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
But Mathews had no Judge Lawlack to bedraggle justice for his sake.
From The Squatter and the Don by C. Loyal
Instead of cultivating your graces you bedraggle them with labor!
From For Gold or Soul? The Story of a Great Department Store by Lurana W. Sheldon
Here in town, she probably preferred to tread the extent of the two drawing-rooms, and measure out the miles by spaces of forty feet, rather than bedraggle her skirts over the sloppy pavements.
From The Blithedale Romance by Nathaniel Hawthorne
But no blast can chill its wings, no mire bedraggle, or rude touch fray.
From Sister Dolorosa and Posthumous Fame by James Lane Allen
Around the same time Sanctuary Hill announced its inception, a large, bedraggled bird was spotted in Wisconsin.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
Florida is in the midst of its worst drought in 25 years, but the dry spell actually ranked far down on the list of challenges these bedraggled growers were facing.
From Slate ● Apr. 20, 2026
"There's always people looking a little bedraggled who just want something filling and probably with a vegetable in it," Ayesha Kalaji, from restaurant Queen of Cups said.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2025
He bought a bedraggled old place called the Caravan Lodge and dubbed it the Phoenix, with Miss Pearl’s Jam House as its on-site restaurant and bar.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2025
The map was safely stowed in his pocket, wet and bedraggled but still readable.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
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.
