How do you pronounce moist?

The recorded pronunciation is /mɔɪst/.

Where does moist come from?

It is traced to Middle English.

moist

/mɔɪst/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.69 in modern English

Syllables: moist
IPA: /mɔɪst/

Scrabble Score

Letters

Syllables

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Characterized by the presence of moisture; not dry; slightly wet; damp.

adj

Of eyes: wet with tears; tearful; also (obsolete), watery due to some illness or to old age.

adj

Of a climate, the weather, etc.: damp, humid, rainy.

adj

Of the vagina: sexually lubricated due to sexual arousal; of a woman: sexually aroused, turned on.

Informal

adj

Characterized by the presence of some fluid such as mucus, pus, etc.

adj

Of sounds of internal organs (especially as heard through a stethoscope): characterized by the sound of air bubbling through a fluid.

adj

Pertaining to one of the four essential qualities formerly believed to be present in all things, characterized by wetness; also, having a significant amount of this quality.

adj

Fluid, liquid, watery.

Obsolete

Example Sentences

"Will theſe moyſt Trees, / That haue out-liu'd the Eagle, page thy heeles / And skip when thou point'ſt out?"
"And [the Angel of the Lord] made the mids of the fornace, as it had bene a moiſt whiſtling wind, ſo that the fire touched them not at all, neither hurt nor troubled them."
"[Y]et the North-ſide [of the pyramids of Giza] moſt worne, by reaſon of the humiditie of the Northerne wind, which here is the moiſteſt."
"[W]e ſee Swines and Pigs Fleſh is the Moiſteſt of Fleſhes."
"Whilſt thee the ſhores, and ſounding Seas / Waſh far away, where ere thy bones are hurld, / Whether beyond the ſtormy Hebrides, / Where thou perhaps under the whelming tide / Viſit'ſt the bottom of the monſtrous world; / Or whether thou to our moiſt vows deny'd, / Sleep'ſt by the fable of Bellerus old, […]"
"[T]he Winds / Blow moiſt and keen, ſhattering the graceful locks / Of theſe fair ſpreading Trees; […]"

Etymology

The adjective is derived from Middle English moist, moiste [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman moist, moiste, moste, Middle French moiste, and Old French moiste, muste (“damp, moist, wet”) (modern French moite); further etymology uncertain, perhaps a blend of a Late Latin variant of Latin mūcidus (“mouldy, musty”) + a Late Latin derivative of Latin mustum (“unfermented or partially fermented grape juice or wine, must”). The noun is derived from the adjective.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: moist, moiste, -, mūcidus, mustum, moisten

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /mɔɪst/
British English: /mɔɪst/

Usage

Inflected Forms

moister (comparative) more moist (comparative) moistest (superlative) most moist (superlative) moists (present, singular) moisting (participle, present) moisted (participle, past) moisted (past) Moists (plural)

Derived Forms

moisten moistened moistener moistening moistful moistify moistish moistly moistness moistproof moisty overmoist

Phrases

moist-adiabatic moist media moist moment moist-proof moist tetter moist towelette

Frequently Paired Words

moisture moistured moistureless moistureproof moistureproofing moisturised moisturized moisturise

Synonyms

moisty bewatered damp drenched dripping drunk humid irriguous madid moist overwatered plashy

Antonyms

unmoist anhydrous arid bone dry droughty dry dry as a bone exsuccous parched sare sear sere

Rhymes With

voiced hoist rejoiced invoiced joist foist benoist unvoiced roist