Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to get misty

to get misty

3 6.5
To feel a little sad and have tears in your eyes because of memories
  • phrasal verb
  • Informal
translation icon : emocionarse
  • It's not often I get misty-eyed at work, but today I had so many new "likes" on the JUURI Facebook page, and I got curious, so I asked where all these new friends were from.
  • get misty-eyed
  • still get misty

Examples

  • I got misty, my heart started pumping fast.

    Let's Be Cops (2014)

  • I can't help but get misty when I think about our time together during summer camp.

  • You used to get misty when you would go to his sports events.

    The Greatest (2009)

  • Stop it, I'm getting misty.

    Payback (1999)

  • I still get misty-eyed when Johnny Mathis sings.

    Blog text (18)

  • I preferred Zoom! and The Electric Company to Mister Roger's Neighborhood, but still couldn't help but get misty reading this post.

    Blog text (11)

  • I had a really simple dress, and it was as close to exactly what I had been envisioning as I could've gotten without having one specifically made, but when I put it on, I still got misty-eyed.

    Blog text (3)

  • ♪ Look at me ♪ ♪ I'm as helpless as a kitten up a tree ♪ ♪ And I feel like I'm clinging ♪ ♪ I can't understand ♪ ♪ I get misty just holding your hand ♪

    Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael (1990)

  • Watching the old family videos always makes me get misty.

  • He tends to get misty at the mention of their wedding anniversary.

Synonyms

to weep
vsto get misty
208 1.1

To cry and let tears fall because you feel sad or have strong feelings

is milder, sentimental emotion that starts feelings rather than prolonged crying
to burst into tears
vsto get misty
24 2.4

To suddenly cry because of a strong feeling

is a slower, sentimental rise of feeling that may only wet the eyes
moved to tears
vsto get misty
5 4.3

Feeling strong emotion that makes you cry

is gentler, sentimental and brings watery eyes rather than strong crying

Antonyms

composed
1 4.3

Calm and in control of your feelings during stress

How Tearful

to break down
111 3.9
to well up
23 5.2
to get misty
  • Informal
3 6.5

Surface Forms

get misty infinitive
getting misty present participle
gets misty third person singular
got misty past
got misty past participle

Morphology

get + misty

The verb "get" here follows the productive pattern get + adjective = 'become', so a learner who knows "get" and the adjective "misty" can plausibly infer a meaning of 'become misty'. However, the emotional sense ('eyes filling with tears') is a metaphorical extension of the literal 'covered with mist' and relies on the specific collocation (misty-eyed), so the connection is only partially predictable to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Get misty gives the picture of your eyes becoming like a window with tiny drops of mist. get means 'become' and misty means covered with light fog, so when you get misty you 'begin to feel emotional' and your eyes may fill with tears.