bedraggle

[bih-drag-uhl]

verb (used with object)

bedraggled, bedraggling 

1. to make limp and soiled, as with rain or dirt.

bedraggle

/ bɪˈdræɡəl /

verb

1. (tr) to make (hair, clothing, etc) limp, untidy, or dirty, as with rain or mud

Word History and Origins

Origin of bedraggle¹

First recorded in 1720–30; be- + draggle

Example Sentences

Her over-romanticized vision of life across the pond, fueled by love stories like “Sense and Sensibility” set in pastoral England, starts out more bedraggled than charmed.

From Los Angeles Times

"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

The final scoreline almost did a kindness to a bedraggled Inter, such was PSG's dominance and the sheer number of chances they created.

From BBC

Hawkins lets herself get vulnerable, too, and the film never fakes a punch by pretending she’s anything more than a small, desperate and bedraggled woman with eyes that look like a bottomless well of need.

From Los Angeles Times

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

Related Words

• besmirch 
• contaminate 
• debase 
• degrade 
• muddy 
• pollute 
• smear 
• smudge 
• sully 
• taint 
• tar 
• tarnish