bedraggle

[ bih-drag-uhl ]

verb (used with object)

, be·drag·gled, be·drag·gling.

1. to make limp and soiled, as with rain or dirt.

bedraggle

/ bɪˈdræɡəl /

verb

1. tr to make (hair, clothing, etc) limp, untidy, or dirty, as with rain or mud

Word History and Origins

Origin of bedraggle¹

First recorded in 1720–30; be- + draggle

Example Sentences

Owen’s bedraggled Blanche, too exhausted to keep up with her own lies, seemed complicit in her own demise.

From Los Angeles Times

She wound up in a town she’d never noticed before, standing outside a bedraggled old motel, smitten.

From Los Angeles Times

Beside him was an ancient and bedraggled donkey, who did not get up and may have been dead.

From Literature

That's lucky, because for her role as budding playwright Maggie in Channel 4 dark comedy Big Mood, she looks pretty bedraggled in some scenes.

From BBC

You see what is stood in front of you, though often bedraggled.

From BBC

Related Words

• besmirch
• contaminate
• debase
• degrade
• muddy
• pollute
• smear
• smudge
• sully
• taint
• tar
• tarnish