runny
Americanadjective
-
runnier,
comparative
-
runniest
superlative
-
tending to run or drip.
a runny paste.
-
(of the nose) discharging mucus.
adjective
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tending to flow; liquid
-
(of the nose or nasal passages) exuding mucus
Other Word Forms
Adjective Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of runny
Explanation
Anything runny is dripping or flowing like liquid. If you have a runny nose, you should probably stuff some tissues into your pocket (or just use your sleeve). Melting ice cream is runny, dripping from your cone down your arm, and an over-easy fried egg is cooked just enough so that the yolk is a little bit runny. A completely raw egg is obviously runny, and so is the nose of a person with a cold. If you're sniffling and sneezing, your nose is probably runny, or dripping with mucus.
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:
Infants, young children, those who are pregnant and older adults should only eat runny or raw eggs if they have a British Lion mark or are produced under the Laid in Britain egg assurance scheme.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
Most cases are mild and amount to little more than a cough, fever, and runny nose.
From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026
A fried egg is also great if you’re not a fan of a runny yolk.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026
That finding established a lower limit for how "runny" liquids can be.
From Science Daily ● May 8, 2026
But then I'd apparently broken out of the hospital in a rabid rampage, and every student with a cough or runny nose was now a suspected plague carrier and being rushed to the doctor.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
While fake honey is sometimes runnier and weaker-tasting than genuine honey, sophisticated fakes can look, smell and taste just like the real thing.
From BBC ● Feb. 9, 2026
Molten basalt is runnier than recycled magma and spreads out into broad “shield” volcanoes like Mars’s Olympus Mons.
From National Geographic ● Oct. 12, 2023
If you stir really fast, with more shearing force, the PB gets runnier, while if you stir slowly the PB remains stiff.
From Scientific American ● May 9, 2023
Previous work at Yellowstone revealed two magma reservoirs: one of gloopy magma 3 miles to 10 miles below the surface, and a far more enormous store of runnier magma 12 miles to 30 miles down.
From New York Times ● Dec. 1, 2022
Just know that pudding tends to be runnier than pastry custard, so you use your judgment when you're at the filling stage, lest you wind up crying into your freezer.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2021
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.
