adjective
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characterized by a large rainfall
a rainy climate
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wet or showery; bearing rain
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of rainy
before 1000; Middle English reyny, Old English rēnig. See rain, -y 1
Explanation
Rainy things are affected by rain in some way, like rainy weather or a rainy afternoon. You can describe certain places as rainy, like Mt. Waialeale on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, or Mawsynram in India, both of which are often cited as being the most rainy place on earth. The phrase "a rainy day" uses rainy figuratively, to represent possible future bad luck or hard times: "You should always save some of your salary in case of a rainy day."
Vocabulary lists containing rainy
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:
On a rainy Thursday in Broken Bow, buyers clad in cowboy hats, plaid shirts and denim gathered for the regular indoor cattle auction.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
The period covers central Mexico’s rainy season, Taylor said, and it matches the time when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sees an increase in illnesses caused by the cyclospora parasite.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Thailand is used to wet weather and September is the peak of the rainy season, but several Bangkok residents said this year seemed worse than previous ones.
From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026
About 150 people showed up for a 5K run Sept. 6 on a rainy morning.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
On rainy days, I’d read a book and watch the girls as they played in the crowded shed behind our house.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
"When you get hot spells, they're that much hotter. And when you get rainy spells, they're that much rainier," he said.
From Barron's ● Jun. 19, 2026
It's possible there were more hostile places on earth on Wednesday evening than Pittodrie; windier, rainier, colder, noisier.
From BBC ● Dec. 4, 2024
And finally, as a major storm caps California’s wet season with more rain, winds and snow, lately making L.A. rainier than Seattle, Southern California begins to dry out.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2023
Santa Cruz has long been far rainier than its neighboring counties, mostly because of its topography, said Jan Null, a veteran meteorologist and former lead forecaster for the National Weather Service.
From New York Times ● Jan. 9, 2023
And you know when it rains in Chicago it's wetter, and muddier, and rainier than any place in the world.
From One Basket by Edna Ferber
The decades of Genghis’s rise, the author tells us, were Central Asia’s rainiest in 2,000 years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
One of the rainiest springs on record boosted warm soup sales while denting those for sun cream, new figures suggest.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2024
During the darkest and rainiest part of the year, it’s tempting to get comfortable on your couch and avoid leaving the house at all.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 15, 2023
Though Pu’u Kukui, the highest peak in the West Maui Mountains, remains one of the rainiest locations on the planet, the once-flourishing mid-elevation hillsides are droughted and eroding.
From Salon ● Dec. 7, 2023
Sometimes, on spring days, there will be the brightest, warmest sun and the darkest, rainiest clouds sharing the sky.
From "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan
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