waterishadj.
/ˈwɔːtərɪʃ/, U.S. /ˈwɔdərɪʃ/, /ˈwɑdərɪʃ/ 1. † c. Of a taste: watery, weak, insipid. Obsolete.† d. Containing, consisting of, or exuding watery fluid, esp. serous fluid; characterized by the presence of such fluid (cf. watery adj. 2c). Also: having a predominance of unusually or abnormally watery humours. Obsolete.
a. Containing a high proportion of water; having a soft or loose consistency; (of a liquid) thin, weak, or insipid as a result of containing too much water; dilute; watery. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > [adjective] > associated or connected with
moista1393
waterisha1425
the world > matter > constitution of matter > lack of density > [adjective] > loose texture
loosec1374
solutec1440
dissolute1607
lax1615
fuzzy1616
incompact1616
waterish1665
incompacted1680
uncompact1705
laxy1716
unconsolidated1802
hover1851
unpacked1855
uncompacted1863
a1425 ( H. Daniel Liber Uricrisiarum (Wellcome 225) 225 (MED) Ȝalow uryn sais þat malancolye regnes in þe body, as watryssh uryn sais þat fleume regnys in þe body.
1542 A. Borde Compend. Regyment Helth xxi. sig. K.iiv Peares..doth increase fatnes ingenderyng waterysshe blod.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iii. f. 146 All milke that is milked in springtime, is watrisher then the milke of sommer.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) iii. iii. 15 Or feede vpon such nice, and watrish diet. View more context for this quotation
1665 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 1 35 It was of a loose watrish contexture.
a1722 E. Lisle Observ. Husbandry (1757) 128 The kirnels [of the nuts]..become waterish, and in a manner tasteless.
1746 Moffett & Bennet's Health's Improvem. (new ed.) xxii. 306 The Lady-pear is too watrish, though beautiful in colour.
1845 Mag. Sci. 6 288/2 Wine of a tolerable quality may be made from frosted potatoes, if not so much frosted as to have become soft and waterish.
1878 J. Todhunter Alcestis 116 My blood Is waterish all with tears, and leaves me weak.
1901 New Eng. Med. Gaz. Aug. 402 Napthalin I use quite a little in cases of bad odor and slimy, waterish stools.
b. figurative. Weak, insipid; lacking distinctness or precision. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > lack of violence, severity, or intensity > [adjective] > weak (of immaterial things)
thin?c1225
wateryc1230
feeble1393
wash1548
waterish1549
fadea1554
limping1577
dilute1605
lank1607
languid1622
water gruel1630
invalid1635
sinewless1644
exsanguine1647
flaccid1647
diluted1681
wishy-washy1693
tiffany1694
foible1715
rickety1738
faintly1771
unrobust1775
pale1820
peely-wally1832
muscleless1841
weakling1848
weedy?1858
feeblose1882
papery1924
1549 M. Coverdale et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. II. Rom. v. f. xiv In steade of the watryshe letter of the lawe gyuen vnto vs as a gage.
a1575 N. Harpsfield Treat. Divorce Henry VIII (1878) (modernized text) 96 It is but a waterish cold argument to say there be so many..forbidd.
1644 J. Milton Doctr. Divorce (ed. 2) To Parl. sig. A3 Out of a waterish and queasy conscience.
1718 Z. Boyd Two Oriental Pearls 51 This waterish Grace furnisheth Tears in the sleep.
1754 Brief Hist. Relation Life J. Livingston 62 My memory was waterish and weak, yet had I improved it, I might have had better use of it.
1823 New Monthly Mag. 9 206/1 The waterish comedy of the ‘Belle's Stratagem’.
1842 C. Dickens Amer. Notes I. vi. 210 Not vapid waterish amusements, but good strong stuff.
1918 N. Amer. Rev. May 760 A waterish young man with a serious long nose and no forehead.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > taste and flavour > insipidity > [adjective]
wallowc897
smatchless?c1225
unsavoury?c1225
fresha1398
savourlessa1398
wearish1398
wershed1398
fond?c1430
unsavoured1435
palled1440
mildc1450
walsh1513
wallowish1548
dead1552
waterish1566
cold1585
flatten1594
seasonless1595
wersha1599
blown1600
flash1601
fatuous1608
tasteless1611
flat1617
insipid1620
ingustable1623
flashy1625
flatted1626
saltless1633
gustless1636
remiss1655
rheumatical1655
untasteable1656
vapid1656
exolete1657
distasted1662
vappous1673
insulse1676
toothless1679
mawkisha1697
intastable1701
waugh1703
impoignant1733
flavourless1736
instimulating1740
deadish1742
mawky1755
brineless1791
wishy-washy1791
keestless1802
shilpit1814
wish-washy1814
sapidless1821
silent1826
slushy1839
bland1878
spendsavour1879
wish-wash1896
dolled1917
spiceless1980
1566 I. A. tr. Pliny Summarie Antiq. xv. sig. hvv There are many relessinges in fruites, as sweete, waterishe, sower, bytter..and dyuers others, among the which there are that haue many tastes together.
1587 G. Turberville Tragicall Tales f. 187v Of watrish taste, the flesh not firme, like English biefe.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. xv. xxviii. 449 Plums have a waterish tast.
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler ii. 58 It takes away the watrish taste which the Chub or Chevin has. View more context for this quotation
1727 E. Strother tr. P. Hermann Materia Medica II. 164 Flores Boraginis, Borage Flowers. They are of a watrish and insipid Taste.
1810 Encycl. Londinensis V. 212/2 The berries have a sweet waterish taste.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > secretory organs > secretion > [adjective] > watery fluid
waterish1583
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > characteristics > [adjective] > other characteristics
hoteOE
redeOE
foulOE
elvishc1386
dryc1400
whitec1450
Naples1507
shaking1528
cold1569
exquisite1583
unpure1583
waterish1583
wandering1585
legitimate1615
sulphureous1625
tetrous1637
cagastrical1662
medical1676
ambulatory1684
ebullient1684
frantic1709
animated1721
progressive1736
cagastric1753
vegetative1803
left-handed1804
specific1804
subacute1811
animate1816
gregarious1822
vernal1822
ambilateral1824
subchronic1831
regressive1845
nummular1866
postoperative1872
ambulant1873
non-surgical1888
progredient1891
spodogenous1897
spodogenic19..
non-invasive1932
early-onset1951
adult-onset1957
non-specific1964
1583 P. Barrough Methode of Phisicke v. xxiii. 253 (heading) Of a Tumour caused of a thinne substance, which they call Aquosum Apostema (that is) a waterish Aposteme.
1591 H. Savile tr. Tacitus Ende of Nero: Fower Bks. Hist. ii. 72 The Germans..hauing foggy and waterish bodies.
1634 T. Johnson tr. A. Paré Chirurg. Wks. vii. xviii. 270 Of the cure of a flatulent and waterish Tumor.
1639 G. Plattes Discov. Infinite Treasure x. 69 Some few Sheepe of the most waterish, and flegmaticke constitution, may be caught with this disease.
1661 R. Lovell Πανζωορυκτολογια, sive Panzoologicomineralogia 117 Their Lungs are very phlegmatick and waterish.
1664 N. Ingelo Bentivolio & Urania: 2nd Pt. v. 31 A hot Fever, a watrish Dropsie, a pining Hectick.
1713 R. Boulton Syst. Rational & Pract. Chirurg. i. xx. 118 Waterish Tumours are differ from œdematous, the Humour being thinner, and more apt to pit.
2. † a. Resembling water in colour; light grey or pale blue. Also of a colour: watery, weak, pale. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > grey or greyness > [adjective] > bluish grey
glawke1412
perse-blue1414
waterisha1425
blunket1488
bluish-grey1578
blue-grey1590
water1592
slate-grey1794
slate-coloured1801
griseous1819
neutral1821
slaty1822
schistous1858
slatish1860
powder-blue-grey1952
a1425 ( H. Daniel Liber Uricrisiarum (Wellcome 225) 197 Þare is 2 maners of whyt colour in uryn, an þat is mykyll toward mylk or calk & anoþer þat is whytyssh & wannyssh & watryssh.
1576 T. Newton tr. L. Lemnie Touchstone of Complexions ii. ii. f.100v Hearbes and floures..of a sadde or darke greene, some watrishe, blunkette, gray, grassie, hoarie, and Leeke coloured.
1585 J. Dee Jrnl. in True & Faithful Relation Spirits (1659) i. 355 The waters of the Triangles, are somewhat like a watrish blew.
1621 D. Widdowes tr. W. A. Scribonius Nat. Philos. 27 The Hiacinth is of waterish colour.
1684 J. Smith Profit & Pleasure United 167 To take the Fish, the pale waterish coloured haire is the best to deceive them if the stream be clear.
1735 J. Barrow Dict. Polygraphicum II. at Limning Wash over the whole ground with a larger pencil with a thin, waterish blue.
1792 Analyt. Rev. Jan. 28 A globe like to that of the moon..with divers spots, some of them of a whitish and waterish colour.
a1829 S. E. Pierce Christ Priest & Sacrifice His People (1848) i. 22 The onyx is so called from its having the appearance of a man's nail: some take it for the agate, others for the beryl, of a waterish blue.
1877 J. A. Phillips From Bad to Worse ii. 165 Her hair was an uncertain black, and her eyes of a waterish grey, quite the reverse of beautiful.
b. Resembling water in appearance or consistency; (esp. excessively) fluid, thin, as if containing too much water. Also figurative. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > water > [adjective] > like or of nature of water
waterya1398
waterisha1500
ayguous?1541
aqueous1646
a1500 (a1450) tr. Secreta Secret. (Ashm. 396) (1977) 92 (MED) Who hath heres blak, foule, watrissh, or redissh fatty, he hath by disposicion a violent and hasty inwit.
1583 P. Stubbes Second Pt. Anat. Abuses sig. F3v The shoomaker liquoreth his leather, with waterish liquor.
1614 D. Dyke Myst. Selfe-deceiuing xxvi. 302 The memory [is] slippery and waterish to receiue and retaine any good impressions.
1617 J. Woodall Surgions Mate 121 Pellitory roots..chewed, bringeth foorth much waterish flegme.
1655 N. Culpeper et al. tr. L. Rivière Pract. Physick ix. vii. 265 Pewking forth a thin waterish Humor by Salivation.
a1722 E. Lisle Observ. Husbandry (1757) 299 The waterish part of the cream comes away first.
1748 tr. Vegetius Of Distempers Horses i. xxxviii. 70 The Humour will be thin, waterish and cold.
1886 N.Y. Med. Jrnl. 23 Jan. 108/1 He found all the connective tissue under the quadratus lamborum infiltrated with a waterish fluid.
1921 Sugar Feb. 72/1 The waterish part of the lime mud distillate.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > water > [adjective] > consisting of or containing water
floatyc1400
watery?a1439
waterish1510
phlegmy1599
liquid1609
aquose1738
1510 J. Stanbridge Vocabula (new ed.) sig. C.iijv Cruda, rawe, or waterysshe.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement iii. f. lxxxiv Eaueux, wateryshe or watry.
1577 J. Grange Golden Aphroditis sig. Sv In time the watrishe droppes, we see doth perce the stone.
4.
a. Of earth, ground, etc.: damp, wet. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > ground > [adjective] > wet
weta900
wateryOE
irrigate?a1412
waterish1540
irriguate1632
irriguous1651
springish1663
spewy1669
puddleda1721
swashy1796
puddly1843
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > soil qualities > [adjective] > soft or yielding > through excess water
weta900
clammy1530
waterish1540
weeping1577
spongy1652
stagnant1850
1540 R. Jonas in tr. E. Roesslin Byrth of Mankynde iii. f. lxxxv The earthe maye be ouer waterysshe, dankesshe, or ouer hot and drye.
1542 A. Borde Compend. Regyment Helth xxiv. sig. L.ii To beware not to dwell nyghe to waterysshe and morysshe grounde.
1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball f. 7v Gentian..growethe..in shadowe and waterishe places.
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear i. 249 Not all the Dukes in watrish Burgundie, Shall buy this vnprizd precious maide of me. View more context for this quotation
1666 Philos. Trans. 1665–6 (Royal Soc.) 1 328 Rice prospers most in waterish grounds.
1724 P. Miller Gardeners & Florists Dict. II. at Mulberry-tree The Leaves of young Trees are apt to burst the Worms, as also do those planted in a waterish Soil.
1772 J. Lodge Desiderata curiosa Hibernica II. 332 To the west, the spacious plain..and the waterish grounds that surround it.
1832 J. P. Kennedy Swallow Barn I. xxvii. 283 His constitution resembles that waterish gravelly soil you see sometimes around a spring.
1957 G. N. Clark in M. D. Lobel Victoria Hist. County Oxf. V. 217/1 Marston lay low in a very dirty and waterish heavy soil.
b. Of air, mist, clouds, etc.: watery, full of moisture. Also of a month, season, etc.: wet, rainy. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wet weather > [adjective] > wet (of weather, place, or time)
wetc893
moista1398
waterya1398
moistya1500
waterish1545
washy1566
rotten1567
slabby1653
weety1658
late1673
fresh1790
slottery1790
soft1812
givey1829
juicy1837
sploshy1838
sposhy1842
slip-sloppya1845
splishy-splashyc1850
shabby1853
soppy1872
sappy1885
1545 R. Ascham Toxophilus ii. f. 11 Froste is wheresoeuer is any waterish humour, as is in al woodes.
1578 M. Jennings tr. E. de Maisonneufve Gerileon of Englande i. i. f. 3 An infinite number of thicke and darke Cloudes or Mistes..causeth to fall vpon vs a multitude of waterishe and rainy showers.
1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes Piouaiuolo, rainish, waterish, shourish, drizling.
1650 T. Venner Via Recta (rev. ed.) ix. 281 February..is commonly very raw and waterish.
1669 J. Worlidge Systema Agriculturæ 295 If small watrish Clouds appear on the tops of hills, Rain follows.
1723 J. Pointer Rational Acct. Weather 32 Thick Fogs and Waterish Mists.
1762 J. Swinton in Philos. Trans. 1761 (Royal Soc.) 52 94 The sun was then pretty resplendent, though a full exertion of its rays was somewhat obstructed by a thin waterish cloud.
1849 C. Brontë Shirley II. x. 241 A dim but not chill or waterish haze slept blue on the hills.
1865 A. C. Swinburne Atalanta in Calydon 69 The waterish air Hissed.
1926 E. R. Eddison Styrbiorn the Strong xi. 190 Behind a drifting waterish veil of broken cloud that turned all the sky to tarnished silver.
5. Of eyes: moist, wet (sometimes with the implication of tearfulness or aroused emotion). Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of eye > [adjective] > watery or gummy
waterya1398
watering1447
watered?c1450
vapoureda1542
waterish1561
weeping1566
gummy1580
liquid1598
swimming1703
gravy-eyed1785
1561 B. Googe tr. ‘M. Palingenius’ Zodiake of Life (new ed.) vi. sig. Qv For many..on the sonne do alwaies loke with watrish winking eies.
?1570 E. Elviden Hist. Pesistratus & Catanea sig. h.v Distil Then from the watrish eyes thy teares, let sighes go flye apase.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 344 A horsse..falleth into his Feuer, which you shall know partly, by his waterish and bloodshotten eyes.
1659 R. Lovell Παμβοτανολογια 248 Smarting, and waterish eyes.
1736 R. Ainsworth Thes. Linguæ Latinæ II. at Lippus Having dropping, or waterish eyes; mopeyed.
1759 R. Brown Compl. Farmer 18 The horse, who for very pain will beat his head against the wall..and have waterish eyes.
1857 J. A. Giles tr. Writings Early Christians xvi. 236 They beseeched the brethren, with waterish eyes and wet cheeks, to pray incessantly for their happy ends.
1928 V. Fisher Toilers of Hills viii. 242 Grandma Avery..looking with waterish eyes far away to the time when she was young.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > water > [adjective]
wateryeOE
aquatic1490
waterish1565
aquatical1603
aqueous1731
hygric1902
1565 B. Googe tr. ‘M. Palingenius’ Zodiake of Life (new ed.) xi. sig. QQ.jv Waterishe are [L. naturam seruat aquarum] the Scorpion, and the Crabbe, and fishy finnes.
1593 T. Kelway tr. A. Ferrier Learned Astron. Disc. Natiuities i. xviii. f. 19v The tayle of the Dragon in the south, maketh him to sell & dispearse his goods. That doth also the head of the Dragon, when she is in a signe earthly or watrish.
1620 J. Brinsley tr. Virgil De Apibus in Eclogues 130/2 Flying from the signe of the waterish fish..Piscis riseth ouer against them.
1635 J. Swan Speculum Mundi v. §2. 105 In earthie drie signes they produce barrennesse also by reason of drought; in waterish signes barrennesse also by reason of too much wet.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > balance of nature > environment or habitat > [adjective] > conditions of
waterish1579
supralittoral1839
trophic1902
thermostabile1908
oligotrophic1911
saprobic1913
mosaic1919
mesic1926
xeric1926
trophogenic1930
tropholytic1931
saprobiotic1940
oligotropic1948
saprotrophic1948
mixohaline1959
thermoneutral1961
eutrophicated1967
1579 G. Harvey Let.-bk. (1884) 84 There be innumerable legions of waterishe and earthlye sprytes.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary ii. 46 Waterish foule, plentie of fish, and generally all meates with the common sort alwaies vnsalted.., doe most preiudice the health.
1717 T. Parnell tr. Homer's Battle Frogs & Mice i. 5 But me, nor Stalks, nor watrish Herbs delight.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > softness > types of softness > [adjective] > soft and juicy
juicyc1430
waterish1591
succulent1601
1591 A. W. Bk. Cookrye (rev. ed.) f. 32v Take..v. or vj. well watrishe Apples, pare them and cut them in peeces.
1617 W. Lawson Countrie Housewifes Garden viii. 16 in New Orchard & Garden (1618) Pumpyons..be very tender, their fruit is great and waterish.
1648 T. Gage Eng.-Amer. xiii. 87 Excellent fruits,..so waterish that they even melt like snow in the mouth.
9. Of light, luminous bodies, etc.: weakened or dimmed by watery vapour in the air.Sometimes not easily distinguishable from sense 1b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > dimness or absence of brightness > [adjective] > dimmed > by vapour
waterish1603
vapourish1781
vapoury1818
1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 697 The light of the moone is waterish, and hath a certeine propertie to liquisie, and by consequence, to corrupt and putrifie.
1607 T. Middleton Michaelmas Terme iv. sig. Hv Like a hanging Moone a little waterish a while.
1770 Philos. Trans. 1769 (Royal Soc.) 59 314 The disturbance on the Sun's limb [was] so undulatory, pointed, ill-defined, waterish.
1797 Encycl. Brit. II. 439/1 A very narrow waterish penumbra appeared round Venus.
1845 T. N. Talfourd Vacation Rambles I. ii. ii. 196 The second walk, agreeably perplexed by the waterish moonlight.
1853 C. Brontë Villette III. xxxvi. 148 The sun broke out pale and waterish; the rain yet fell.
a1945 E. R. Eddison Mezentian Gate (1972) xxxix. 236 The moon..gave forth spent, doubtful, and waterish rays.
2013 A. C. Winkler Family Mansion v. 66 Weak, waterish, and without warmth, the February winter sun peered blurrily down on the city.
Compounds
Parasynthetic.† waterish eyed adj. Obsolete rare
ΚΠ
1702 London Gaz. No. 3789/4 A very little Man,..somewhat thick Lipp'd, watrish Eyed.
Derivatives
ˈwaterishly adv.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > weakness or feebleness > [adverb] > insipidly
waterishly1571
unsavouredly1603
unsavourily1611
wershly1633
1571 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Psalmes of Dauid with Comm. (lxiii. 4) i. f. 238/2 More coldly and watrishly do others expound it.
a1716 R. South Serm. Several Occasions (1744) IX. 193 When at length he shines forth, yet it is but waterishly, and through the cloud, with a dim, uncomfortable brightness.
2011 Evening Street Rev. Spring 156 The gray afternoon was waterishly dimming as misty clouds were swirling down to settle into a dense rainy fog.
ˈwaterishness n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > water > [noun] > quality or state of being watery or like water
aquosity1528
waterishness1532
aqueity1612
wateriness1624
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > condition of being slightly wet > [noun]
moistnessc1390
moisturea1398
humidityc1450
waterishness1532
moist1562
dankishness1576
moistishness1576
dankness1601
dampishness1607
madidity1656
dampness1665
humidness1727
madidness1731
dampiness1830
the world > action or operation > manner of action > lack of violence, severity, or intensity > [noun] > weakness of immaterial things
weaknessa1300
feebleness1340
waterishnessa1603
faintnessa1716
flaccidity1778
saplessness1851
flabbiness1883
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > characteristics > [noun] > accumulation of water
waterishness1989
1532 G. Hervet tr. Xenophon Treat. House Holde f. 50 Styrre the grounde, that the soorenes and the rawe watrisshenes of hit may be warmed and well dryed vp.
a1603 T. Cartwright Confut. Rhemists New Test. (1618) 244 The weaknes and watrishnes of your argument.
1872 M. E. Braddon Robert Ainsleigh I. iii. 49 You and my late master's nephew are like as—I'll not say two drops of water, for there is little waterishness in your dispositions.
1989 J. Hibberd Mem. Old Bastard 53 I wondered whether..the waterishness of his eyes might not be due to ceaseless tippling.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2015; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.a1425