watery
/ˈwɔtəɹi/adjective
watery is spelled W-A-T-E-R-Y: 6 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,651st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, watery means “Resembling or characteristic of water” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in watery?
| Letters | 6: W-A-T-E-R-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.5 times per million words; the 22,651st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is watery?
Watery appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,651st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce watery?
- UK /ˈwɔːtəɹi/
- UK /ˈwɔːtɹi/
- US /ˈwɔtəɹi/
Watery has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-watery.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of watery
- waterier comparative
- wateriest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does watery mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Resembling or characteristic of water.
- 2
Wet, soggy or soaked with water.
- 3
Diluted or having too much water.
watery coffee
- 4
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.
- 8
Containing many bodies of water.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Watery in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense wet, soggy or soaked with water:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | aqueux |
| German | wässrig |
| Portuguese | aquoso |
| Spanish | acuoso, aguoso, aguanoso, aguachento, aguazoso, aguado |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does watery come from?
From Middle English watery, wattry, from Old English wæteriġ (“watery”), from Proto-West Germanic *watarīg. Equivalent to water + -y.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).