different between watery vs washy

English

Etymology

From Middle English watery, wattry, from Old English wæteri? (“watery”), from Proto-West Germanic *watar?g. Equivalent to water +? -y.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?w??t??i/, /?w??t?i/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?w?t??i/
• (US, cot–caught merger, Canada) IPA^(key): /?w?t??i/

Adjective

watery (comparative waterier, superlative wateriest)

1. Resembling or characteristic of water.
   • 2005, Robert L. Mott, Radio Sound Effects

     The prop also gave a good watery sound to those early radio rainstorms.

2. Wet, soggy or soaked with water.
3. Diluted or having too much water.
4. (of light) Thin and pale therefore suggestive of water.
5. Weak and insipid.
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.

Synonyms

• (characteristic of water): waterish
  • See also Thesaurus:runny
  • aqueous, aquose
• (soaked with water): drenched, moist, waterlogged; see also Thesaurus:wet
• (having too much water): wishy-washy
• (weak, insipid): bland, flavorless (figuratively); see also Thesaurus:insipid

Derived terms

• unwatery

Translations

Anagrams

• tawery, tawyer

English

Etymology

wash +? -y

Adjective

washy (comparative washier, superlative washiest)

1. Watery; damp; soft.
2. Lacking substance or strength; weak; thin; dilute; feeble.

   washy tea

   washy resolutions

3. (US, dialect, archaic) Not firm or hardy; liable to sweat profusely with labour.

   a washy horse

Noun

washy (plural washies)

1. (childish or poetic, rare) A wash, an act of washing.

   Swishy, swishy, swashy. Give your hands a washy.