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Glite Dictionary
watered-silk

watered-silk

1 8.1
A silk cloth with a wavy shiny pattern used for clothes or furniture
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : seda moiré
  • Manning was wrapped in the scarlet watered silk of a cardinal's cassock.

Examples

  • The sands were very fine, yellow beach sand, rippled like the patterns in watered silk.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • This is a large book bound in watered silk.

    Prospero's Books (1991)

  • Catherine was there already, prim on a Regency chair covered in golden watered silk and toying with a glass of sherry.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • The deep blue watered silk of her gown shimmered in the lamplight and made her powdered bare shoulders and bosom look as pale as alabaster.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • The deep blue watered silk of her gown shimmered in the lamplight and made her powdered bare shoulders and bosom look as pale as alabaster.

  • On taking her wraps off in the house, I saw she wore a watered silk skirt, laid in side plaits in the front with a full straight black drapery that was very becoming to her short, plump figure.

Synonyms

moire
vswatered-silk
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A silk fabric with a wavy, shiny pattern used for clothes

focuses on its wavy look and use rather than its manufacturing method
moiré
vswatered-silk
9.6

A shiny silk fabric with a wavy pattern like water

emphasizes use in fine clothing and upholstery rather than surface sheen

Surface Forms

watered-silk singular
watered-silks plural

Morphology

watered-silk = watered + silk (transparent) = water + silk + ed

A straightforward compound of 'watered' (an adjective formed from 'water' + -ed describing a watery wavy finish) and 'silk'; the meaning is directly derived from its parts.

Etymology

Watered-silk refers to a kind of silk that has a shiny, wavy pattern like water. Here watered means 'having a water-like pattern', and silk is the fine cloth, so the name explains why the fabric looks rippled.