bedraggled

American  

[bih-drag-uhld] / bɪˈdræg əld /

adjective

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

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bedraggled British  

/ bɪˈdræɡəld /

adjective

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

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Other Word Forms

• unbedraggled adjective

Etymology

Origin of bedraggled

bedraggle + -ed ²

Explanation

If you're bedraggled, you're dishevelled, limp, and tired. Many people are a bit bedraggled after a very long plane flight. New parents who spend much of the night awake with a crying baby often look a little bedraggled, and so do travelers and students during finals week. Bedraggled people haven't gotten enough sleep and aren't quite as pulled together and polished as they might like to be. Bedraggled is an 18th-century word, from the now-obsolete verb bedraggle, combining be and draggle, "make wet and dirty" or "lag behind."

Example Sentences

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

Mary is bedraggled and wet, begging for a gown for a comeback performance in a few days.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 17, 2026

His two main characters, infantrymen named Willie and Joe, were bedraggled, unshaven, dirty, tired to the bone, contemptuous of authority—in other words, mirror images of many of the real soldiers fighting that war.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 5, 2026

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 • May 31, 2025

I slowed to a fast walk, hoping that a muddy and bedraggled American boy who was not running would attract somewhat less attention than one who was.

From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs

Related Words

• disheveled
• run down
• seedy
• threadbare
• untidy