ENGLISH
REFERENCE

watery

adj.
B1 Intermediate US //ˈwɔtɝi// UK //wˈɔːtəɹi// wa·tery

adj. containing too much water, or looking and tasting like water. You use this to describe food that is thin and weak, or eyes that are full of tears.

adj. containing or resembling water in appearance, consistency, or taste. Often describes liquids that have been diluted or eyes that are moist with emotion or illness.


SIMPLE

The soup is very watery and has no flavor.

CONTEXTUAL

After walking through the cold wind, her eyes became watery and her nose started to run.

COMPLEX

The artist used a watery blue wash to suggest the morning mist, allowing the white of the paper to shine through the thin layers of pigment.

Synonyms
Origin

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

Usage

Commonly used to describe food, colors, or physical symptoms like crying.

Idioms1 entry

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