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What is a good word to describe watery eyes?
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Before someone cries, their eyes often appear watery. Is there a good name for that effect?
This was my attempt to describe it so far:
"My eyes become ________ [glossy] as I hold back my tears."
Is there a better word to be used in place of glossy? The whole "eyes become glossy" part can be reworded to suit the new word.
single-word-requests
edited 10 hours ago
alwayslearning
23.7k53090
asked 11 hours ago
Nathan
536
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Nathan is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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 |Â
show 2 more comments
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
Before someone cries, their eyes often appear watery. Is there a good name for that effect?
This was my attempt to describe it so far:
"My eyes become ________ [glossy] as I hold back my tears."
Is there a better word to be used in place of glossy? The whole "eyes become glossy" part can be reworded to suit the new word.
single-word-requests
edited 10 hours ago
alwayslearning
23.7k53090
asked 11 hours ago
Nathan
536
New contributor
Nathan is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
You are right; 'glossy' is a terrible word in this context.
– Mitch
7 hours ago
@Mitch luckily I got a lot of better alternatives from the answers.😄
– Nathan
7 hours ago
Google NGrams can offer some perspective on how common the variations are. I personally think 'glisten' sounds strange here (a little like purple prose), but it seems to have been popular before the 80's.
– Mitch
7 hours ago
@Mitch Wow, that's an amazing tool. Thanks.
– Nathan
7 hours ago
Nathan, Google NGrams is great, but it's not perfect. The dates can often be wrong, the selection of books that make up the corpus is slanted in ways we don't know, searching has to take into account a out of context. But 1) it is available 2) it is free!
– Mitch
3 hours ago
 |Â
show 2 more comments
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
Before someone cries, their eyes often appear watery. Is there a good name for that effect?
This was my attempt to describe it so far:
"My eyes become ________ [glossy] as I hold back my tears."
Is there a better word to be used in place of glossy? The whole "eyes become glossy" part can be reworded to suit the new word.
single-word-requests
edited 10 hours ago
alwayslearning
23.7k53090
asked 11 hours ago
Nathan
536
New contributor
Nathan is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Before someone cries, their eyes often appear watery. Is there a good name for that effect?
This was my attempt to describe it so far:
"My eyes become ________ [glossy] as I hold back my tears."
Is there a better word to be used in place of glossy? The whole "eyes become glossy" part can be reworded to suit the new word.
single-word-requests
single-word-requests
edited 10 hours ago
alwayslearning
23.7k53090
asked 11 hours ago
Nathan
536
New contributor
Nathan is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 10 hours ago
alwayslearning
23.7k53090
asked 11 hours ago
Nathan
536
New contributor
Nathan is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 10 hours ago
alwayslearning
23.7k53090
edited 10 hours ago
alwayslearning
23.7k53090
edited 10 hours ago
alwayslearning
23.7k53090
23.7k53090
asked 11 hours ago
Nathan
536
New contributor
Nathan is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 11 hours ago
Nathan
536
asked 11 hours ago
Nathan
536
536
New contributor
Nathan is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Nathan is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Nathan is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
You are right; 'glossy' is a terrible word in this context.
– Mitch
7 hours ago
@Mitch luckily I got a lot of better alternatives from the answers.😄
– Nathan
7 hours ago
Google NGrams can offer some perspective on how common the variations are. I personally think 'glisten' sounds strange here (a little like purple prose), but it seems to have been popular before the 80's.
– Mitch
7 hours ago
@Mitch Wow, that's an amazing tool. Thanks.
– Nathan
7 hours ago
Nathan, Google NGrams is great, but it's not perfect. The dates can often be wrong, the selection of books that make up the corpus is slanted in ways we don't know, searching has to take into account a out of context. But 1) it is available 2) it is free!
– Mitch
3 hours ago
 |Â
show 2 more comments
You are right; 'glossy' is a terrible word in this context.
– Mitch
7 hours ago
@Mitch luckily I got a lot of better alternatives from the answers.😄
– Nathan
7 hours ago
Google NGrams can offer some perspective on how common the variations are. I personally think 'glisten' sounds strange here (a little like purple prose), but it seems to have been popular before the 80's.
– Mitch
7 hours ago
@Mitch Wow, that's an amazing tool. Thanks.
– Nathan
7 hours ago
Nathan, Google NGrams is great, but it's not perfect. The dates can often be wrong, the selection of books that make up the corpus is slanted in ways we don't know, searching has to take into account a out of context. But 1) it is available 2) it is free!
– Mitch
3 hours ago
You are right; 'glossy' is a terrible word in this context.
– Mitch
7 hours ago
You are right; 'glossy' is a terrible word in this context.
– Mitch
7 hours ago
@Mitch luckily I got a lot of better alternatives from the answers.😄
– Nathan
7 hours ago
@Mitch luckily I got a lot of better alternatives from the answers.😄
– Nathan
7 hours ago
Google NGrams can offer some perspective on how common the variations are. I personally think 'glisten' sounds strange here (a little like purple prose), but it seems to have been popular before the 80's.
– Mitch
7 hours ago
Google NGrams can offer some perspective on how common the variations are. I personally think 'glisten' sounds strange here (a little like purple prose), but it seems to have been popular before the 80's.
– Mitch
7 hours ago
@Mitch Wow, that's an amazing tool. Thanks.
– Nathan
7 hours ago
@Mitch Wow, that's an amazing tool. Thanks.
– Nathan
7 hours ago
Nathan, Google NGrams is great, but it's not perfect. The dates can often be wrong, the selection of books that make up the corpus is slanted in ways we don't know, searching has to take into account a out of context. But 1) it is available 2) it is free!
– Mitch
3 hours ago
Nathan, Google NGrams is great, but it's not perfect. The dates can often be wrong, the selection of books that make up the corpus is slanted in ways we don't know, searching has to take into account a out of context. But 1) it is available 2) it is free!
– Mitch
3 hours ago
 |Â
show 2 more comments
5 Answers
5
active
oldest
votes
up vote
5
down vote
accepted
Although it may not seem to be the most logical answer, the standard phrase is "to mist over".
From Oxford Learners' Dictionary:
[intransitive, transitive] if your eyes mist or something mists them,
they fill with tears mist (over/up) Her eyes misted over as she
listened to the speech. Her eyes misted over with tears.
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/mist_2
answered 10 hours ago
chasly from UK
21.2k12763
add a comment |Â
up vote
5
down vote
Two common ways is to say one's eyes or tears "well up"
verb
often well up
1. no object, with adverbial (of a liquid) rise up to the surface and spill or be about to spill.
‘tears were beginning to well up in
her eyes’
Oxford Living Dictionaries
v. To rise to the edge of a container, ready to flow:
Lava welled up
in the crater.
Tears welled up in my eyes, but I did not cry.
I could
feel anger well up in me.
The American Heritage Dictionary of
Phrasal Verbs
well up
(from something) and well up (out of something) [for a
liquid] to gush or pour up and away from something.
Tears welled up out of the baby's eyes.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs
According to Google NGram Viewer, the terms "eyes welled up" and "tears welled up" have become quite popular over the recent years.
"eyes welled up" and "tears welled up" Google NGram chart. You can also compare these terms with other alternatives.
"My eyes welled up as I held back my tears."
answered 8 hours ago
Zebrafish
7,92021130
+1 'to well up'
– lbf
8 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
5
down vote
I have seen moist used often in this context.
"My eyes become moist as I hold back my tears."
ODO:
moist
ADJECTIVE
1.1 (of the eyes) wet with tears.
‘her brother's eyes became moist’
Another word used often in this context is (quite literally as used in the question itself), watery.
"My eyes become watery as I hold back my tears."
ODO:
watery
ADJECTIVE
1.1 (of a person's eyes) full of tears.
‘My eyes were a bit watery, something that happens after anyone shouts
at me.’
With some rearrangement of words, you can also use the verb well.
"My eyes welled with tears as I tried to hold them back."
ODO:
well.
VERB
[often well up]
1 [no object, with adverbial (of a liquid)] rise up to the surface and spill or be about to spill.
‘tears were beginning to well up in her eyes’
‘His eyes welled with tears as they rushed down his cheeks like
waterfall.
answered 10 hours ago
alwayslearning
23.7k53090
You are correct, but I'm not going mark this question an answered because I have recently learned that a large portion of the population now associates this word with disgust. While the word definition makes no mention of the disgust, if a large number of people think it has a different meaning, then I can't use it. I definitely don't want people to think the action of crying is disgusting. This paper investigated the feeling of disgust people have towards the word 'moist' specifically.
– Nathan
10 hours ago
1
@Nathan just because you've heard that some people don't like the sound of this word doesn't mean much. It is a very common word that lots of people have no problem with at all. I don't think 'moist' is appropriate here, but it is a perfectly acceptable word in general.
– Mitch
7 hours ago
@Mitch My goal when writing is to convey information with text, so what people think a word means is more important than its dictionary definition. According to that paper, 10-20% of people find 'moist' to mean 'wet and disgusting'. Yes, 10-20% is in the minority, but it's a substantial amount. Whereas other words suggested here have close to 0% of people thinking they mean 'disgusting'. My hesitance to use the word 'moist' is justified considering that one out of every five people will misunderstand what I'm trying to tell them.
– Nathan
7 hours ago
@Mitch If it was in the context of a legal document or formal report, then I would happily use 'moist'. In those settings people take definitions more seriously.
– Nathan
7 hours ago
1
+1 I would personally prefer watery first and moist second. I see nothing with with either, and think that avoiding them because of a misperception isn't the right approach.
– Jason Bassford
1 hour ago
 |Â
show 1 more comment
up vote
4
down vote
Misty Eyes
Definition of misty-eyed
1 : having tearful eyes
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/misty-eyed
answered 10 hours ago
Uhtred Ragnarsson
37215
add a comment |Â
up vote
3
down vote
You could use "glisten" in this context (although you might want to reconstruct the sentence in that case), something like:
My eyes glisten as I hold back my tears
answered 8 hours ago
microenzo
672
New contributor
microenzo is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Lots of great answers here, but I'm only allowed to check one. Thank you everyone for your help. All the answers are very useful.
– Nathan
8 hours ago
add a comment |Â
5 Answers
5
active
oldest
votes
5 Answers
5
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
5
down vote
accepted
Although it may not seem to be the most logical answer, the standard phrase is "to mist over".
From Oxford Learners' Dictionary:
[intransitive, transitive] if your eyes mist or something mists them,
they fill with tears mist (over/up) Her eyes misted over as she
listened to the speech. Her eyes misted over with tears.
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/mist_2
answered 10 hours ago
chasly from UK
21.2k12763
add a comment |Â
up vote
5
down vote
accepted
Although it may not seem to be the most logical answer, the standard phrase is "to mist over".
From Oxford Learners' Dictionary:
[intransitive, transitive] if your eyes mist or something mists them,
they fill with tears mist (over/up) Her eyes misted over as she
listened to the speech. Her eyes misted over with tears.
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/mist_2
answered 10 hours ago
chasly from UK
21.2k12763
add a comment |Â
up vote
5
down vote
accepted
up vote
5
down vote
accepted
Although it may not seem to be the most logical answer, the standard phrase is "to mist over".
From Oxford Learners' Dictionary:
[intransitive, transitive] if your eyes mist or something mists them,
they fill with tears mist (over/up) Her eyes misted over as she
listened to the speech. Her eyes misted over with tears.
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/mist_2
answered 10 hours ago
chasly from UK
21.2k12763
Although it may not seem to be the most logical answer, the standard phrase is "to mist over".
From Oxford Learners' Dictionary:
[intransitive, transitive] if your eyes mist or something mists them,
they fill with tears mist (over/up) Her eyes misted over as she
listened to the speech. Her eyes misted over with tears.
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/mist_2
answered 10 hours ago
chasly from UK
21.2k12763
answered 10 hours ago
chasly from UK
21.2k12763
answered 10 hours ago
chasly from UK
21.2k12763
answered 10 hours ago
chasly from UK
21.2k12763
21.2k12763
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
up vote
5
down vote
Two common ways is to say one's eyes or tears "well up"
verb
often well up
1. no object, with adverbial (of a liquid) rise up to the surface and spill or be about to spill.
‘tears were beginning to well up in
her eyes’
Oxford Living Dictionaries
v. To rise to the edge of a container, ready to flow:
Lava welled up
in the crater.
Tears welled up in my eyes, but I did not cry.
I could
feel anger well up in me.
The American Heritage Dictionary of
Phrasal Verbs
well up
(from something) and well up (out of something) [for a
liquid] to gush or pour up and away from something.
Tears welled up out of the baby's eyes.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs
According to Google NGram Viewer, the terms "eyes welled up" and "tears welled up" have become quite popular over the recent years.
"eyes welled up" and "tears welled up" Google NGram chart. You can also compare these terms with other alternatives.
"My eyes welled up as I held back my tears."
answered 8 hours ago
Zebrafish
7,92021130
+1 'to well up'
– lbf
8 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
5
down vote
Two common ways is to say one's eyes or tears "well up"
verb
often well up
1. no object, with adverbial (of a liquid) rise up to the surface and spill or be about to spill.
‘tears were beginning to well up in
her eyes’
Oxford Living Dictionaries
v. To rise to the edge of a container, ready to flow:
Lava welled up
in the crater.
Tears welled up in my eyes, but I did not cry.
I could
feel anger well up in me.
The American Heritage Dictionary of
Phrasal Verbs
well up
(from something) and well up (out of something) [for a
liquid] to gush or pour up and away from something.
Tears welled up out of the baby's eyes.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs
According to Google NGram Viewer, the terms "eyes welled up" and "tears welled up" have become quite popular over the recent years.
"eyes welled up" and "tears welled up" Google NGram chart. You can also compare these terms with other alternatives.
"My eyes welled up as I held back my tears."
answered 8 hours ago
Zebrafish
7,92021130
+1 'to well up'
– lbf
8 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
5
down vote
up vote
5
down vote
Two common ways is to say one's eyes or tears "well up"
verb
often well up
1. no object, with adverbial (of a liquid) rise up to the surface and spill or be about to spill.
‘tears were beginning to well up in
her eyes’
Oxford Living Dictionaries
v. To rise to the edge of a container, ready to flow:
Lava welled up
in the crater.
Tears welled up in my eyes, but I did not cry.
I could
feel anger well up in me.
The American Heritage Dictionary of
Phrasal Verbs
well up
(from something) and well up (out of something) [for a
liquid] to gush or pour up and away from something.
Tears welled up out of the baby's eyes.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs
According to Google NGram Viewer, the terms "eyes welled up" and "tears welled up" have become quite popular over the recent years.
"eyes welled up" and "tears welled up" Google NGram chart. You can also compare these terms with other alternatives.
"My eyes welled up as I held back my tears."
answered 8 hours ago
Zebrafish
7,92021130
Two common ways is to say one's eyes or tears "well up"
verb
often well up
1. no object, with adverbial (of a liquid) rise up to the surface and spill or be about to spill.
‘tears were beginning to well up in
her eyes’
Oxford Living Dictionaries
v. To rise to the edge of a container, ready to flow:
Lava welled up
in the crater.
Tears welled up in my eyes, but I did not cry.
I could
feel anger well up in me.
The American Heritage Dictionary of
Phrasal Verbs
well up
(from something) and well up (out of something) [for a
liquid] to gush or pour up and away from something.
Tears welled up out of the baby's eyes.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs
According to Google NGram Viewer, the terms "eyes welled up" and "tears welled up" have become quite popular over the recent years.
"eyes welled up" and "tears welled up" Google NGram chart. You can also compare these terms with other alternatives.
"My eyes welled up as I held back my tears."
answered 8 hours ago
Zebrafish
7,92021130
edited 8 hours ago
answered 8 hours ago
Zebrafish
7,92021130
answered 8 hours ago
Zebrafish
7,92021130
answered 8 hours ago
Zebrafish
7,92021130
7,92021130
+1 'to well up'
– lbf
8 hours ago
add a comment |Â
+1 'to well up'
– lbf
8 hours ago
+1 'to well up'
– lbf
8 hours ago
+1 'to well up'
– lbf
8 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
5
down vote
I have seen moist used often in this context.
"My eyes become moist as I hold back my tears."
ODO:
moist
ADJECTIVE
1.1 (of the eyes) wet with tears.
‘her brother's eyes became moist’
Another word used often in this context is (quite literally as used in the question itself), watery.
"My eyes become watery as I hold back my tears."
ODO:
watery
ADJECTIVE
1.1 (of a person's eyes) full of tears.
‘My eyes were a bit watery, something that happens after anyone shouts
at me.’
With some rearrangement of words, you can also use the verb well.
"My eyes welled with tears as I tried to hold them back."
ODO:
well.
VERB
[often well up]
1 [no object, with adverbial (of a liquid)] rise up to the surface and spill or be about to spill.
‘tears were beginning to well up in her eyes’
‘His eyes welled with tears as they rushed down his cheeks like
waterfall.
answered 10 hours ago
alwayslearning
23.7k53090
You are correct, but I'm not going mark this question an answered because I have recently learned that a large portion of the population now associates this word with disgust. While the word definition makes no mention of the disgust, if a large number of people think it has a different meaning, then I can't use it. I definitely don't want people to think the action of crying is disgusting. This paper investigated the feeling of disgust people have towards the word 'moist' specifically.
– Nathan
10 hours ago
1
@Nathan just because you've heard that some people don't like the sound of this word doesn't mean much. It is a very common word that lots of people have no problem with at all. I don't think 'moist' is appropriate here, but it is a perfectly acceptable word in general.
– Mitch
7 hours ago
@Mitch My goal when writing is to convey information with text, so what people think a word means is more important than its dictionary definition. According to that paper, 10-20% of people find 'moist' to mean 'wet and disgusting'. Yes, 10-20% is in the minority, but it's a substantial amount. Whereas other words suggested here have close to 0% of people thinking they mean 'disgusting'. My hesitance to use the word 'moist' is justified considering that one out of every five people will misunderstand what I'm trying to tell them.
– Nathan
7 hours ago
@Mitch If it was in the context of a legal document or formal report, then I would happily use 'moist'. In those settings people take definitions more seriously.
– Nathan
7 hours ago
1
+1 I would personally prefer watery first and moist second. I see nothing with with either, and think that avoiding them because of a misperception isn't the right approach.
– Jason Bassford
1 hour ago
 |Â
show 1 more comment
up vote
5
down vote
I have seen moist used often in this context.
"My eyes become moist as I hold back my tears."
ODO:
moist
ADJECTIVE
1.1 (of the eyes) wet with tears.
‘her brother's eyes became moist’
Another word used often in this context is (quite literally as used in the question itself), watery.
"My eyes become watery as I hold back my tears."
ODO:
watery
ADJECTIVE
1.1 (of a person's eyes) full of tears.
‘My eyes were a bit watery, something that happens after anyone shouts
at me.’
With some rearrangement of words, you can also use the verb well.
"My eyes welled with tears as I tried to hold them back."
ODO:
well.
VERB
[often well up]
1 [no object, with adverbial (of a liquid)] rise up to the surface and spill or be about to spill.
‘tears were beginning to well up in her eyes’
‘His eyes welled with tears as they rushed down his cheeks like
waterfall.
answered 10 hours ago
alwayslearning
23.7k53090
You are correct, but I'm not going mark this question an answered because I have recently learned that a large portion of the population now associates this word with disgust. While the word definition makes no mention of the disgust, if a large number of people think it has a different meaning, then I can't use it. I definitely don't want people to think the action of crying is disgusting. This paper investigated the feeling of disgust people have towards the word 'moist' specifically.
– Nathan
10 hours ago
1
@Nathan just because you've heard that some people don't like the sound of this word doesn't mean much. It is a very common word that lots of people have no problem with at all. I don't think 'moist' is appropriate here, but it is a perfectly acceptable word in general.
– Mitch
7 hours ago
@Mitch My goal when writing is to convey information with text, so what people think a word means is more important than its dictionary definition. According to that paper, 10-20% of people find 'moist' to mean 'wet and disgusting'. Yes, 10-20% is in the minority, but it's a substantial amount. Whereas other words suggested here have close to 0% of people thinking they mean 'disgusting'. My hesitance to use the word 'moist' is justified considering that one out of every five people will misunderstand what I'm trying to tell them.
– Nathan
7 hours ago
@Mitch If it was in the context of a legal document or formal report, then I would happily use 'moist'. In those settings people take definitions more seriously.
– Nathan
7 hours ago
1
+1 I would personally prefer watery first and moist second. I see nothing with with either, and think that avoiding them because of a misperception isn't the right approach.
– Jason Bassford
1 hour ago
 |Â
show 1 more comment
up vote
5
down vote
up vote
5
down vote
I have seen moist used often in this context.
"My eyes become moist as I hold back my tears."
ODO:
moist
ADJECTIVE
1.1 (of the eyes) wet with tears.
‘her brother's eyes became moist’
Another word used often in this context is (quite literally as used in the question itself), watery.
"My eyes become watery as I hold back my tears."
ODO:
watery
ADJECTIVE
1.1 (of a person's eyes) full of tears.
‘My eyes were a bit watery, something that happens after anyone shouts
at me.’
With some rearrangement of words, you can also use the verb well.
"My eyes welled with tears as I tried to hold them back."
ODO:
well.
VERB
[often well up]
1 [no object, with adverbial (of a liquid)] rise up to the surface and spill or be about to spill.
‘tears were beginning to well up in her eyes’
‘His eyes welled with tears as they rushed down his cheeks like
waterfall.
answered 10 hours ago
alwayslearning
23.7k53090
I have seen moist used often in this context.
"My eyes become moist as I hold back my tears."
ODO:
moist
ADJECTIVE
1.1 (of the eyes) wet with tears.
‘her brother's eyes became moist’
Another word used often in this context is (quite literally as used in the question itself), watery.
"My eyes become watery as I hold back my tears."
ODO:
watery
ADJECTIVE
1.1 (of a person's eyes) full of tears.
‘My eyes were a bit watery, something that happens after anyone shouts
at me.’
With some rearrangement of words, you can also use the verb well.
"My eyes welled with tears as I tried to hold them back."
ODO:
well.
VERB
[often well up]
1 [no object, with adverbial (of a liquid)] rise up to the surface and spill or be about to spill.
‘tears were beginning to well up in her eyes’
‘His eyes welled with tears as they rushed down his cheeks like
waterfall.
answered 10 hours ago
alwayslearning
23.7k53090
edited 8 hours ago
answered 10 hours ago
alwayslearning
23.7k53090
answered 10 hours ago
alwayslearning
23.7k53090
answered 10 hours ago
alwayslearning
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23.7k53090
You are correct, but I'm not going mark this question an answered because I have recently learned that a large portion of the population now associates this word with disgust. While the word definition makes no mention of the disgust, if a large number of people think it has a different meaning, then I can't use it. I definitely don't want people to think the action of crying is disgusting. This paper investigated the feeling of disgust people have towards the word 'moist' specifically.
– Nathan
10 hours ago
1
@Nathan just because you've heard that some people don't like the sound of this word doesn't mean much. It is a very common word that lots of people have no problem with at all. I don't think 'moist' is appropriate here, but it is a perfectly acceptable word in general.
– Mitch
7 hours ago
@Mitch My goal when writing is to convey information with text, so what people think a word means is more important than its dictionary definition. According to that paper, 10-20% of people find 'moist' to mean 'wet and disgusting'. Yes, 10-20% is in the minority, but it's a substantial amount. Whereas other words suggested here have close to 0% of people thinking they mean 'disgusting'. My hesitance to use the word 'moist' is justified considering that one out of every five people will misunderstand what I'm trying to tell them.
– Nathan
7 hours ago
@Mitch If it was in the context of a legal document or formal report, then I would happily use 'moist'. In those settings people take definitions more seriously.
– Nathan
7 hours ago
1
+1 I would personally prefer watery first and moist second. I see nothing with with either, and think that avoiding them because of a misperception isn't the right approach.
– Jason Bassford
1 hour ago
 |Â
show 1 more comment
You are correct, but I'm not going mark this question an answered because I have recently learned that a large portion of the population now associates this word with disgust. While the word definition makes no mention of the disgust, if a large number of people think it has a different meaning, then I can't use it. I definitely don't want people to think the action of crying is disgusting. This paper investigated the feeling of disgust people have towards the word 'moist' specifically.
– Nathan
10 hours ago
1
@Nathan just because you've heard that some people don't like the sound of this word doesn't mean much. It is a very common word that lots of people have no problem with at all. I don't think 'moist' is appropriate here, but it is a perfectly acceptable word in general.
– Mitch
7 hours ago
@Mitch My goal when writing is to convey information with text, so what people think a word means is more important than its dictionary definition. According to that paper, 10-20% of people find 'moist' to mean 'wet and disgusting'. Yes, 10-20% is in the minority, but it's a substantial amount. Whereas other words suggested here have close to 0% of people thinking they mean 'disgusting'. My hesitance to use the word 'moist' is justified considering that one out of every five people will misunderstand what I'm trying to tell them.
– Nathan
7 hours ago
@Mitch If it was in the context of a legal document or formal report, then I would happily use 'moist'. In those settings people take definitions more seriously.
– Nathan
7 hours ago
1
+1 I would personally prefer watery first and moist second. I see nothing with with either, and think that avoiding them because of a misperception isn't the right approach.
– Jason Bassford
1 hour ago
You are correct, but I'm not going mark this question an answered because I have recently learned that a large portion of the population now associates this word with disgust. While the word definition makes no mention of the disgust, if a large number of people think it has a different meaning, then I can't use it. I definitely don't want people to think the action of crying is disgusting. This paper investigated the feeling of disgust people have towards the word 'moist' specifically.
– Nathan
10 hours ago
You are correct, but I'm not going mark this question an answered because I have recently learned that a large portion of the population now associates this word with disgust. While the word definition makes no mention of the disgust, if a large number of people think it has a different meaning, then I can't use it. I definitely don't want people to think the action of crying is disgusting. This paper investigated the feeling of disgust people have towards the word 'moist' specifically.
– Nathan
10 hours ago
1
1
@Nathan just because you've heard that some people don't like the sound of this word doesn't mean much. It is a very common word that lots of people have no problem with at all. I don't think 'moist' is appropriate here, but it is a perfectly acceptable word in general.
– Mitch
7 hours ago
@Nathan just because you've heard that some people don't like the sound of this word doesn't mean much. It is a very common word that lots of people have no problem with at all. I don't think 'moist' is appropriate here, but it is a perfectly acceptable word in general.
– Mitch
7 hours ago
@Mitch My goal when writing is to convey information with text, so what people think a word means is more important than its dictionary definition. According to that paper, 10-20% of people find 'moist' to mean 'wet and disgusting'. Yes, 10-20% is in the minority, but it's a substantial amount. Whereas other words suggested here have close to 0% of people thinking they mean 'disgusting'. My hesitance to use the word 'moist' is justified considering that one out of every five people will misunderstand what I'm trying to tell them.
– Nathan
7 hours ago
@Mitch My goal when writing is to convey information with text, so what people think a word means is more important than its dictionary definition. According to that paper, 10-20% of people find 'moist' to mean 'wet and disgusting'. Yes, 10-20% is in the minority, but it's a substantial amount. Whereas other words suggested here have close to 0% of people thinking they mean 'disgusting'. My hesitance to use the word 'moist' is justified considering that one out of every five people will misunderstand what I'm trying to tell them.
– Nathan
7 hours ago
@Mitch If it was in the context of a legal document or formal report, then I would happily use 'moist'. In those settings people take definitions more seriously.
– Nathan
7 hours ago
@Mitch If it was in the context of a legal document or formal report, then I would happily use 'moist'. In those settings people take definitions more seriously.
– Nathan
7 hours ago
1
1
+1 I would personally prefer watery first and moist second. I see nothing with with either, and think that avoiding them because of a misperception isn't the right approach.
– Jason Bassford
1 hour ago
+1 I would personally prefer watery first and moist second. I see nothing with with either, and think that avoiding them because of a misperception isn't the right approach.
– Jason Bassford
1 hour ago
 |Â
show 1 more comment
up vote
4
down vote
Misty Eyes
Definition of misty-eyed
1 : having tearful eyes
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/misty-eyed
answered 10 hours ago
Uhtred Ragnarsson
37215
add a comment |Â
up vote
4
down vote
Misty Eyes
Definition of misty-eyed
1 : having tearful eyes
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/misty-eyed
answered 10 hours ago
Uhtred Ragnarsson
37215
add a comment |Â
up vote
4
down vote
up vote
4
down vote
Misty Eyes
Definition of misty-eyed
1 : having tearful eyes
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/misty-eyed
answered 10 hours ago
Uhtred Ragnarsson
37215
Misty Eyes
Definition of misty-eyed
1 : having tearful eyes
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/misty-eyed
answered 10 hours ago
Uhtred Ragnarsson
37215
answered 10 hours ago
Uhtred Ragnarsson
37215
answered 10 hours ago
Uhtred Ragnarsson
37215
answered 10 hours ago
Uhtred Ragnarsson
37215
37215
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
up vote
3
down vote
You could use "glisten" in this context (although you might want to reconstruct the sentence in that case), something like:
My eyes glisten as I hold back my tears
answered 8 hours ago
microenzo
672
New contributor
microenzo is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Lots of great answers here, but I'm only allowed to check one. Thank you everyone for your help. All the answers are very useful.
– Nathan
8 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
3
down vote
You could use "glisten" in this context (although you might want to reconstruct the sentence in that case), something like:
My eyes glisten as I hold back my tears
answered 8 hours ago
microenzo
672
New contributor
microenzo is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Lots of great answers here, but I'm only allowed to check one. Thank you everyone for your help. All the answers are very useful.
– Nathan
8 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
3
down vote
up vote
3
down vote
You could use "glisten" in this context (although you might want to reconstruct the sentence in that case), something like:
My eyes glisten as I hold back my tears
answered 8 hours ago
microenzo
672
New contributor
microenzo is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
You could use "glisten" in this context (although you might want to reconstruct the sentence in that case), something like:
My eyes glisten as I hold back my tears
answered 8 hours ago
microenzo
672
New contributor
microenzo is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
answered 8 hours ago
microenzo
672
New contributor
microenzo is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
answered 8 hours ago
microenzo
672
answered 8 hours ago
microenzo
672
672
New contributor
microenzo is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
microenzo is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
microenzo is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Lots of great answers here, but I'm only allowed to check one. Thank you everyone for your help. All the answers are very useful.
– Nathan
8 hours ago
add a comment |Â
Lots of great answers here, but I'm only allowed to check one. Thank you everyone for your help. All the answers are very useful.
– Nathan
8 hours ago
Lots of great answers here, but I'm only allowed to check one. Thank you everyone for your help. All the answers are very useful.
– Nathan
8 hours ago
Lots of great answers here, but I'm only allowed to check one. Thank you everyone for your help. All the answers are very useful.
– Nathan
8 hours ago
add a comment |Â
Nathan is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Nathan is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Nathan is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Nathan is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
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You are right; 'glossy' is a terrible word in this context.
– Mitch
7 hours ago
@Mitch luckily I got a lot of better alternatives from the answers.😄
– Nathan
7 hours ago
Google NGrams can offer some perspective on how common the variations are. I personally think 'glisten' sounds strange here (a little like purple prose), but it seems to have been popular before the 80's.
– Mitch
7 hours ago
@Mitch Wow, that's an amazing tool. Thanks.
– Nathan
7 hours ago
Nathan, Google NGrams is great, but it's not perfect. The dates can often be wrong, the selection of books that make up the corpus is slanted in ways we don't know, searching has to take into account a out of context. But 1) it is available 2) it is free!
– Mitch
3 hours ago