humid
Americanadjective
adjective
Usage
What does humid mean? Humid is used to describe air that is full of water vapor. Humid is most commonly applied to weather or the general climate of a place, especially when the temperature is hot. The noun form of humid is humidity. Example: Summertime in Florida is almost unbearably humid.
Synonym Usage
See damp.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of humid
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Latin (h)ūmidus, equivalent to (h)ūm(ēre) “to be moist” + -idus -id 4
Explanation
When there is a lot of moisture in the air, it is humid out. The air in a rain forest is humid, the air in a desert is dry. People like to say that it's not the heat that bothers them, it's the humidity. They say this because when it is humid, or when there is a lot of water in the air, the heat feels hotter. It also makes wavy hair frizzy and straight hair limp. Air that is cold and moist is called damp, so when people talk about humid air, think tropical, as that's usually how the word is meant.
Vocabulary lists containing humid
The Sweltering Words of Summer
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Seedfolks
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Mexico - Introductory
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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.
It was so hot and humid that Lee Feaster, a native Texas and the father of freshman wideout Boobie Feaster, said on Tuesday that his wife passed out during the game and still had blisters.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
But despite feeling that he had made his best recovery from a slam in two years post-Wimbledon, Djokovic recently revealed his struggles with an ongoing health condition that causes particular issues in hot, humid conditions.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
One example is Aspergillus niger, a fungus that commonly grows in warm, humid environments such as bathrooms and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026
Warmer ocean temperatures also cause more humid conditions near the coast, Swain said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
By ni-Frith it was so hot that the lower part of the field was humid.
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
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.
