Ways to say it
| Italian | Note |
|---|---|
| pioggerella | feminine |
| pioviggine | feminine |
Both pioggerella and pioviggine are feminine nouns used to describe light rain. You may also use the related verb piovigginare to express the action of drizzling.
What does it mean word for word?
The word pioggerella is a diminutive of pioggia (rain), created by adding the suffix -erella to denote something small or light, literally meaning "little rain".
Which one should you use?
Pioggerella is the more common choice for everyday conversation, while pioviggine is a term used more frequently in literary or technical contexts.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
As both pioggerella and pioviggine are feminine nouns, any adjectives used with them must also be in the feminine form. The verb piovigginare is an intransitive verb and is typically used in the third-person singular to describe the weather, such as piovigginava (it was drizzling).
Did you know?
- In some Italian regional dialects, there are even more specific terms for drizzle, such as those that distinguish between a 'cold drizzle' and a 'warm drizzle'.
- To describe drizzle that is exceptionally fine, Italians often pair pioviggine with the adjective sottile, which means 'thin'.
- Italian has a specific word pioviggine for drizzle that captures the feeling of a fine, mist-like rain, often used in poetry to evoke a melancholy or romantic atmosphere.
Examples in context
- Oggi c'è stata una pioggerella ma ora è quasi finita.Today, there was a drizzle, but now it's almost stopped.
- C'è una leggera pioggerella oggi.There is a light drizzle today.
- Non mi piace camminare con la pioggerella.I don't like walking in the drizzle.
- La pioggerella ha bagnato appena il giardino.The drizzle has barely wet the garden.
Example conversation
Martina and Alessandro are deciding whether to go for a walk.
- MartinaGuarda, fuori c'è una pioggerella.Look, there is a drizzle outside.
- AlessandroNon è molto forte, vero?It's not very strong, right?
- MartinaNo, ma preferisco prendere l'ombrello.No, but I prefer to take the umbrella.
- AlessandroHai ragione, Alessandro concorda con te.You are right, Alessandro agrees with you.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “drizzle” translations and entries pioggerella, pioviggine, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
