Dictionary

watery en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈwɑtəɹi/ (cot-caught-merger)
• /ˈwɔːtəɹi/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈwɔːtɹi/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈwɔtəɹi/ (General-American)

Etymology

From Middle English watery, wattry, from Old English wæteriġ (“watery”), from Proto-West Germanic *watarīg. Equivalent to water + -y.

Meanings

1. Resembling or characteristic of water.
   • The prop also gave a good watery sound to those early radio rainstorms. 2005, Robert L. Mott, Radio Sound Effects:
2. Wet, soggy or soaked with water.
   • European adventurers found themselves within a watery world, a tapestry of streams, channels, wetlands, lakes and lush riparian meadows enriched by floodwaters from the Mississippi River. 2013 January 14, Nancy Langston, “The Fraught History of a Watery World”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 1, archived from the original on 22 Jan 2013, page 59:
3. Diluted or having too much water.
   • watery coffee
4. (of light) Thin and pale therefore suggestive of water.
5. Weak and insipid.
   • Genuine music is the offspring of profound emotion: of exaltation, pain, or joy. Music produced outside of a situation between these poles of the human heart is of banal character, bloodless, watery. 1929, Abraham Zevi Idelsohn, Jewish Music: Its Historical Development, page 194:
   • When the album succeeds, such as on the swaggering, Queen-esque “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us,” it does so on The Darkness’ own terms—that is, as a random ’80s-cliché generator. But with so many tired, lazy callbacks to its own threadbare catalog (including “Love Is Not The Answer,” a watery echo of the epic “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” from 2003’s Permission To Land), Hot Cakes marks the point where The Darkness has stopped cannibalizing the golden age of stadium rock and simply started cannibalizing itself. And, despite Hawkins’ inveterate crotch-grabbing, there was never that much meat there to begin with. 2012 August 21, Jason Heller, “The Darkness: Hot Cakes (Music Review)”, in The Onion AV Club:
6. Discharging water or similar substance as a result of disease etc.
   • I took my cat to the vet because I was worried about his watery eyes.
7. Tearful.
8. Containing many bodies of water.
   • The good stuff in High Tide is the visual loveliness, maybe too lovely for the supposedly depressed seaport of Eden, the film's southern Australia locale. High Tide is laden with luscious pastels, watery vistas and quirky, weather-beaten clam joints. 1988 April 16, Elizabeth Pincus, “Taming Upstart Women”, in Gay Community News, page 7:

Forms

Deriveds

waterily · wateriness · watery hide disease · nonwatery · unwatery

Relateds

milk-and-watery

Synonyms

free-flowing · thone · thoan · lachrymose · watered · wet · wetter than an otter's pocket · madid · waterish · liquid · soggy · aqueous · smackless · irriguous · waterlogged · overwatered · flowy · larmoyant · dripping · thin · watery · wiery · watery · ingustible · untasteable · watery · mawkish · sapidless · vapid · maudlin · fluxive · spewy · moist · squidgy · unsavory · drenched · wallowish · fluent · sodden · undried · watery · moisty · spongy · moist · runny · sobful · drunk · flaggy · gustless · aquose · tasteless · soaked · wearish · savorless · plashy · lachrymate · drenched · bewatered · waugh · damp · crysome · fluid · lachrymose · moist · humid · bland · teary · intastable · cardboard · waterlogged · saturated · weepy · wersh · insipid · tame · cryey · moist · tearful · teary · mobile · flavorless · soppy · flavorless · wishy-washy · bland

Translations (72)

ru водяни́стый (diluted or having too much water) · bg мокър (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · eo akveca (resembling or characteristic of water) · nds-de wäterig (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · mi tōwāwahi (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · pt aquoso (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · fi vesimäinen (resembling or characteristic of water) · mi tētēwai (discharging water or similar) · pam madanum (diluted or having too much water) · bg разводнен (diluted or having too much water) · de wässrig (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · mi kōpūwai (diluted or having too much water) · pam maranum (diluted or having too much water) · sv blöt (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · kmr avî (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · mi pītoritoriwai (Discharging water due to disease etc.) · kea xalalá (diluted or having too much water) · ro apos (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · mi pītoritoriwai (discharging water or similar) · mi toriwai (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · izh vesikäs (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · pl wodnisty (diluted or having too much water) · lv ūdeņains (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · it acquoso (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · mjg-mgr shangan (diluted or having too much water) · es aguoso (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · it acqueo (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · pl wodnisty (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · fi vettä muistuttava (resembling or characteristic of water) · ro apătos (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · ja 水っぽい (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · ru водяни́стый (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · es aguachinoso (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · mop jaʼ (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · gv ushtagh (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · es aguachento (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · sv våt (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · bg воден (resembling or characteristic of water) · mi tōwahiwahi (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · sv sur (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · sq ujor (resembling or characteristic of water) · ms berair (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · kix tǖlēilēi (diluted or having too much water) · es acuoso (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · fi vetinen (diluted or having too much water) · fa آبکی (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · fr aqueux (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · es lloroso (discharging water or similar) · it inzuppato (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · bg воднист (diluted or having too much water) · mi haruwai (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · sv vattnig (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · fi läpimärkä (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · hi आबी (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · fi ponneton (weak and insipid) · ru жи́дкий (diluted or having too much water) · id berair (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · es aguanoso (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · bg подгизнал (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · ckb ئاوی (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · mn шингэн (diluted or having too much water) · nl waterig (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · es aguazoso (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · ba шыйыҡ (diluted or having too much water) · mi waiwai (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · izh veekäs (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · mi tētēwai (discharging water or similar) · es aguado (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · ota صولاق (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · fi vuotava (discharging water or similar) · it bagnato (wet, soggy or soaked with water) · fi kelmeä (of light: thin and pale)