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Glite Dictionary
👁️ Watery or moist 💧 Damp or wet
rheumy

rheumy

9.5
Eyes that are wet and a little sticky
  • adjective
  • /ˈrumi/
translation icon : lagrimoso
  • His rheumy gaze revealed the years of wisdom and sorrow he had experienced.

Examples

  • The elderly man wiped the rheumy tears from his eyes as he read the heartfelt letter from his daughter.

  • She spun, facing the old stove-huddler, who glared balefully at her from one rheumy, open eye.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • After spending the night crying, she woke up with rheumy eyes that were red and watery.

Synonyms

watery-eyed
vsrheumy
1 4.1

Having eyes full of tears and looking as if about to cry

is caused by medical or age related moisture rather than emotion

Antonyms

dry
791 1.0

Not wet or without any liquid

How Watery

runny
34 1.0
teary
21 2.0
watery
22 1.0
rheumy
9.5
moist
105 1.0
dry
791 1.0

Surface Forms

rheumy positive

Morphology

rheumy = rheum (semi-transparent) = rheum + y

Formally 'rheum' + '-y' gives 'characterized by rheum'; the base noun is uncommon and the adjective is somewhat specialized, so learners may not readily infer it.

Etymology

Rheumy comes from an old Greek word rheuma meaning 'flow', so think of watery stuff flowing from the eyes. That's why rheumy describes eyes or body parts that are wet, watery, or full of mucus.