Ways to say it
| Chinese | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 濕 / 溼 / 湿 | shī |
| 潮濕 / 潮湿 | cháoshī |
The term is used to describe an object that is covered with or impregnated with liquid. If you want to say someone or something got soaked by rain or splashed by liquid, you can use 淋濕 / 淋湿. To express that you made something wet, such as by accidentally spilling water, use 弄濕 / 弄湿. If an object is completely saturated or soaked through to the core, use 濕透.
Which one should you use?
While 濕 / 溼 / 湿 (shī) is used to describe an object being wet, 潮濕 / 潮湿 (cháoshī) is used specifically to describe a humid or damp environment or atmosphere. For a formal way to describe humidity or a slightly wet condition, you may also use 湿润.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Cantonese, the term for wet is 濕 (sap1).
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
To indicate a change of state, such as something becoming wet, you can add the particle 了 after 濕, resulting in 濕了.
How do you pronounce it?
shī
Did you know?
- In Chinese culture, a 'wet' or humid environment 潮湿 is often linked to the concept of 'dampness' 湿气 in Traditional Chinese Medicine, which is viewed as a pathological cause of illness.
- The character 濕 is a phono-semantic compound, meaning it uses the radical for 'water' to indicate the meaning and a phonetic component to suggest the sound.
- The term 湿润 is often used as a compliment in beauty and skincare contexts to describe 'dewy' or 'hydrated' skin, rather than just being 'wet'.
Examples in context
- 地面很潮湿The ground is very wet.
- 空气湿润The air is wet.
- 屋顶滴水The roof is leaking.
- 我被雨淋湿透了I got completely soaked in the rain.
- 今天的计划泡汤了Today's plan went down the drain.
- 别站在那里，会被车溅湿的Don't stand there, you'll get splashed by the car and get wet.
- 街上好濕The street is very wet.
- 阿公的外套濕了Grandfather's coat is wet.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “wet” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 濕, CC BY-SA 4.0.
