moist
[moist]
- moderately or slightly wet; damp.
- (of the eyes) tearful.
- accompanied by or connected with liquid or moisture.
- (of the air) having high humidity.
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Origin of moist
Synonyms
See more synonyms for moist on Thesaurus.com1. dank.
Synonym study
1. See damp.
Antonyms
1, 2. dry.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for moist
Contemporary Examples
The moist emotions were at once staged for television and overpoweringly real.
The moist rectangle of cooked meat and molten blob of cheese are then layered in a hard roll.
Each firm, moist piece packs a provocative sweet and savory punch.
Its apple-carrot muffin is a moist and comforting treat that tastes like your grandmother baked it especially for you.
Koestler referred to the “logic of the moist eye” in The Act of Creation.
Historical Examples
The scent of blood in the moist air had made us wild beasts all.
In the ValleyHarold Frederic
The sixth day of the appointed week was a moist, hot, misty day.
Little DorritCharles Dickens
Not as moist as England; let alone its Institutions,' said the man.
Life And Adventures Of Martin ChuzzlewitCharles Dickens
Moist flesh if it chanced to touch iron froze to it momentarily.
Bride of the MistletoeJames Lane Allen
Then from head to foot he was coated with a substance cool and moist.
Two Thousand Miles BelowCharles Willard Diffin
moist
- slightly damp or wet
- saturated with or suggestive of moisture
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Word Origin
C14: from Old French, ultimately related to Latin mūcidus musty, from mūcus mucus
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for moist
adj.
late 14c., "moist, wet; well-irrigated," from Old French moiste "damp, wet, soaked" (13c., Modern French moite), from Vulgar Latin *muscidus "moldy," also "wet," from Latin mucidus "slimy, moldy, musty," from mucus "slime" (see mucus). Alternative etymology [Diez] is from Latin musteus "fresh, green, new," literally "like new wine," from musteum "new wine" (see must (n.1)). If this wasn't the source, it influenced the form of the other word in Old French. Related: Moistly; moistness.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper