Standard Lemma guide

wetness

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK, US: /ˈwɛt.nəs/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɛtnəs
  • CMU ARPABET: W EH1 T N AH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The condition of being wet.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Moisture.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Rainy or damp weather.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Examples

  • 1797, Tobias Smollett et al., The History of England, from the Revolution to the End of the American War and the Peace of Versailles in 1783, Philadelphia: Robert Campbell, Volume 4, Book 5, p. 484, They complained, that the wetness of the season, and the scarcity of fodder in the year 1762, with other natural causes, had reduced the quantity of fat cattle, by discouraging the farmers from rearing them.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

the condition of containing or being covered by a liquid (especially water)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he confirmed the wetness of the swimming trunks

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: dryness

Broader terms: condition, status

Narrower terms: wateriness, muddiness, sloppiness, moisture, wet, humidity, humidness, damp, dampness, moistness, sogginess

History

Etymology

From Middle English wetnes, wetnesse, from Old English wǣtnes (“moisture, wetness”). By surface analysis, wet + -ness.

Across languages

Translations

21 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: թացություն (tʻacʻutʻyun) — condition of being wet
  • Breton: glebiadur — condition of being wet
  • Bulgarian: мокрота (mokrota) — condition of being wet
  • Bulgarian: влажност (vlažnost) — condition of being wet
  • Esperanto: malsekeco — condition of being wet
  • French: humidité — condition of being wet
  • German: Nässe — condition of being wet
  • German: Feuchte — condition of being wet
  • Greek: υγρότητα (ygrótita) — condition of being wet
  • Ancient Greek: ἰκμάς (ikmás) — condition of being wet
  • Ancient Greek: ὑγρότης (hugrótēs) — condition of being wet
  • Irish: fliuchán — condition of being wet
  • Italian: umidità — condition of being wet
  • Latvian: slapjums — condition of being wet
  • Latvian: mitrums — condition of being wet
  • Malayalam: നനവ് (nanavŭ) — condition of being wet
  • Persian: تری (tarī) — condition of being wet
  • Spanish: humedad — condition of being wet
  • Tamil: ஈரம் (īram) — condition of being wet
  • Turkish: ıslaklık — condition of being wet
  • Turkish: nemlilik — condition of being wet