Meaning & use
wetter
Last updated
“wetter” is a form of “wet”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
adjectivecomparable
More soaked or covered with water or another liquid than something else.
Grammar: Comparative form of wet, often followed by than: wetter than yesterday.
Patterns
- wetter than something
- get wetter
The grass is wetter than I expected after the shower.
Their jackets were wetter than ours, so they changed first.
The towel got wetter the longer we left it on the sand.
adjectivecomparable
Having more rain, or a climate with more rainfall, than another place or time.
Grammar: Describes weather, seasons or regions: a wetter spring.
Patterns
- wetter than usual
- a wetter climate
This autumn has been much wetter than last year's.
The west coast has a wetter climate than the interior.
Forecasters expect a wetter week ahead.
Word forms
| superlative | wettest |
|---|
Common combinations
- wetter than usual
- June was wetter than usual.
- a wetter climate
- A wetter climate suits rice farming.
- get wetter
- The path gets wetter near the stream.
- much wetter
- The north is much wetter than the south.
- wetter conditions
- Wetter conditions slowed the race.
Synonyms and how they differ
- damper
- Damper means slightly moist and is gentler than wetter, which can mean dripping.
- soggier
- Soggier suggests soaked through and heavy, usually describing ground or food, while wetter is neutral.
- rainier
- Rainier describes weather with more rain, whereas wetter can also describe objects.
- more soaked
- More soaked emphasizes being completely saturated, while wetter simply indicates a greater amount of liquid.
Opposites
Word family
- wet adjective
- the base form, covered with liquid
- wettest adjective
- the superlative form
- wetness noun
- the state of being wet
- wetly adverb
- in a wet or damp way
Commonly confused: wetter or better? wetter or whether?
wetter vs better
Wetter and better rhyme and look similar, but better is the comparative of good and is unrelated to liquid.
wetter vs whether
Whether introduces a choice and sounds the same as weather in many accents, while wetter describes moisture.
Practice
This winter was ___ the previous one, so the reservoirs filled quickly.
Choose one answer.
Wet is a short adjective, so its comparative is wetter, used with than. More wet than is unnatural, and wetter as is not a pattern.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “wetter”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.