moisture
Americannoun
-
moistures
plural
-
condensed or diffused liquid, especially water.
moisture in the air.
-
a small quantity of liquid, especially water; enough liquid to moisten.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of moisture
1325–75; Middle English; see moist, -ure; compare Middle French moistour
Explanation
Moisture is the feeling of wetness — what you want in your cupcake but not in your diapers. Moisture is the noun related to the adjective moist, which you might use to describe damp soil, clammy air, or melt-in-your-mouth desserts. Moisture has also been known to promote mold growth and frizz otherwise tame hair, so it doesn't have many fans — other than tropical plants and the very thirsty.
Vocabulary lists containing moisture
Holes
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Words to Know Before You Defrost the Bird
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"Brothers in Hope"
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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.
See Examples For:
That moisture is being pulled northward by an upper-level trough — a low-pressure area in the atmosphere — and the resulting instability may produce thunderstorms and showers, she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
Although this week's rainfall is welcome and will go some way to help river levels and soil moisture content, it will take time for catchments and reservoirs to fully recover.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
Horton, the country’s largest home builder, faces litigation involving thousands of Louisiana homeowners who say shoddy building practices failed to keep out moisture, leading to widespread mold growth in their homes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
It was almost limp with moisture, and there was an obvious contrast between where the breading ended and the chicken began.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026
Then when the moisture gets to be too much, and the cloud gets too heavy, they fall to earth as rain.
From "Shouting at the Rain" by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
“The fuel moistures would have been too high, and the fire wouldn't have carried.”
From Salon ● Jan. 15, 2025
Climate change has led to higher temperatures, increased dry and dead vegetation, low soil moistures and stronger storms.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 14, 2023
Despite the record-breaking rainstorm last week, fuel moistures are still low due to California’s multiyear drought, according to Sweet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 18, 2022
“Fuel moistures on the forest are very dry. This condition, combined with high temperatures, support rapid fire spread,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2021
For moistures in these twain Are near akin.
From On the Nature of Things by William Ellery Leonard
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.
