sodden
Americanadjective
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soaked with liquid or moisture; saturated.
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heavy, lumpy, or soggy, as food that is poorly cooked.
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having a soaked appearance.
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bloated, as the face.
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expressionless, dull, or stupid, especially from drunkenness.
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lacking spirit or alertness; inert; torpid; listless.
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Archaic. boiled.
verb (used with or without object)
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to make or become sodden.
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Obsolete. past participle of seethe.
adjective
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completely saturated
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dulled, esp by excessive drinking
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( in combination )
a drink-sodden mind
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heavy or doughy, as bread is when improperly cooked
verb
Other Word Forms
- soddenly adverb
- soddenness noun
Etymology
Origin of sodden
1250–1300; Middle English soden, sothen, past participle of sethen to seethe
Explanation
Pull out your galoshes. When it's been raining for days, there are puddles everywhere, and the grass is thoroughly soaked, it's safe to say the ground is sodden. Coming from the Middle English word for "boiled," sodden is certainly closely tied with lots and lots of liquid. Saturated, soppy, and soaking, anything that's sodden is drenched to the core and probably a mess. That goes for people, too: You can call someone sodden if they're acting foolish or dull, especially if they've had too much to drink.
Vocabulary lists containing sodden
Lord of the Flies
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The Hunger Games
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Words from Shakespearean Insults
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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.
Scotland's campaign got off to a disappointing start in losing to Italy in sodden conditions in Rome.
From Barron's • Feb. 10, 2026
Sometimes you have to break away from heavy, sodden reality and go straight into joyful idiocy.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 9, 2025
Schumacher's greatness in sodden conditions made the difference in Barcelona.
From BBC • Nov. 4, 2024
I spent Monday hauling furniture to a dumpster and cutting up sodden rugs with a kitchen knife—it was all I had—so that they’d fit inside contractor bags.
From Slate • Oct. 21, 2024
The covering of them was torn and filthy and the wadding stuck out of the holes, grey and sodden.
From "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck
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.
