wallow
Americanverb (used without object)
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wallows,
present (3rd person singular)
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wallowed,
past participle, past
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wallowing
present participle
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to roll about or lie in water, snow, mud, dust, or the like, as for refreshment.
Goats wallowed in the dust.
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to live self-indulgently; luxuriate; revel.
to wallow in luxury; to wallow in sentimentality.
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to flounder about; move along or proceed clumsily or with difficulty.
A gunboat wallowed toward port.
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to surge up or billow forth, as smoke or heat.
Waves of black smoke wallowed into the room.
noun
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wallows
plural
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an act or instance of wallowing.
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a place in which animals wallow.
hog wallow; an elephant wallow.
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the indentation produced by animals wallowing.
a series of wallows across the farmyard.
verb
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(esp of certain animals) to roll about in mud, water, etc, for pleasure
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to move about with difficulty
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to indulge oneself in possessions, emotion, etc
to wallow in self-pity
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(of smoke, waves, etc) to billow
noun
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the act or an instance of wallowing
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a muddy place or depression where animals wallow
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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wallowsimple
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wallowssimple
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have wallowedperfect
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has wallowedperfect
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am wallowingprogressive
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are wallowingprogressive
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is wallowingprogressive
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have been wallowingperfect progressive
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has been wallowingperfect progressive
Past
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wallowedsimple
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had wallowedperfect
-
was wallowingprogressive
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were wallowingprogressive
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had been wallowingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of wallow
before 900; Middle English walwe, Old English wealwian to roll; cognate with Gothic walwjan; akin to Latin volvere
Explanation
To wallow is to roll about in something, as a pig wallows in mud or a billionaire wallows in money. Wallow can be used to describe a physical action or an emotional state. If you cry "Woe is me!" one too many times, you might be accused of wallowing in self-pity. Because of its association with the much-maligned pig, wallow often has a negative, insulting tone. So, rather than wallowing in that pile of money once you've won the lottery, try bathing or wading in it instead.
Vocabulary lists containing wallow
List 5
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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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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:
There are some sad ironies stitched into the plot, and an upsetting late twist, though the show doesn’t wallow in it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
I wonder if the reaction to the book is less about Burden’s marriage and more an excuse to wallow in our own perceived lack of agency.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 21, 2026
“But you can’t wallow in grief while you’re actively caregiving. I’d never get anything done. You soldier on.”
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 16, 2026
She ponders whether its home on Disney+ will mean it gets a big audience, adding: "But let's just wallow in nostalgia."
From BBC ● Feb. 4, 2026
Did the bacheh film, the Guy in the film, become kamyab and fulfill his dreams, or was he nah-kam, doomed to wallow in failure?
From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
With Luis dead, she wallows in visions of him, one of which is the man-sized bird.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
While the bison do help keep back some of the invasive grasses, Dennhardt explains that they create wallows and cause erosion.
From National Geographic ● Jan. 18, 2024
Large herbivores such as Cape buffalo and red deer make temporary pools by creating wallows, which also interrupt wildfires.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 9, 2023
Elsewhere, traders are keeping a watchful eye on any signs of a possible intervention from Japanese authorities as the yen wallows near a nine-month low against the dollar.
From Reuters ● Aug. 29, 2023
I see my wilderness home muddy with wallows and stippled with pig bristles.
From "On the Far Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
Just as he once wallowed in the shadows, he ended his biggest night in those same shadows.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 9, 2023
The Wildcats have won 13 straight in the Sunflower Showdown as the Jayhawks have wallowed at the bottom of the Big 12.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 22, 2022
The dollar wallowed near a three-week low versus major peers on Wednesday as more signs of economic weakness in the United States fanned speculation about a less hawkish Federal Reserve.
From Reuters ● Oct. 26, 2022
As for Ephron, she'd turn to potatoes — her carb of choice — when life got sharp around the edges, and wallowed in a bowl of buttery mashed comfort.
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2022
Among the casualties was a stone-crab boat called the Molly Bell, which was tom from her anchorage and swept up a swollen tidal creek, where she wallowed and sank from sight.
From "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen
“This doesn’t mean avoiding the grief—he will be lonely at times—but it is good to do things that keep you from wallowing in it. He clearly loves to travel, so I’d highly recommend it.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
Recent polls show Villaraigosa, 73, wallowing at the bottom of the field, though none of the major Democratic candidates have an overwhelming edge.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 16, 2026
Of course, some anger and frustration will come out during these talks, but long-term wallowing and ruminating on perceived unfairness can be more damaging than the layoff itself.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 2, 2026
But the ILO warned that efforts to improve global job quality had stagnated, leaving hundreds of millions of workers wallowing in poverty, even as trade uncertainty risked cutting into workers wages.
From Barron's ● Jan. 14, 2026
The Selaesori Qhoran was a wallowing tub of five hundred tons, with a deep hold, high castles fore and aft, and a single mast between.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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.
