- Today's Word
Bedraggled
[ bih-drag-uhld ]
Definition
“Bedraggled” is an adjective used to describe something, often clothing or a person’s appearance, that is wet, dirty, or untidy due to being dragged through mud, water, or a similar substance. It can also be used metaphorically to describe something that appears disheveled or in poor condition.
Example
The old, abandoned house had a bedraggled appearance, with broken windows and overgrown weeds in the yard. In this example, “bedraggled” is used metaphorically to describe the neglected and deteriorating state of the house’s exterior.
Fun Fact
The term “bedraggled” is derived from the Old English word “draggan,” meaning “to drag.” It originally referred to something or someone that had been dragged through mud or water, resulting in a disheveled or wet appearance.
(adjective) Of doubtful authenticity; widely circulated but almost certainly not true or not based in fact.
The tale of Washington chopping down the cherry tree is almost certainly apocryphal — a moral fable dressed up as biography and repeated until it became fact.
Apocryphal derives from the Greek apokryphos, meaning “hidden” or “obscure,” from apokryptein — “to hide away” — built from apo- (“away”) and kryptein (“to hide”). It entered English through the ecclesiastical Latin apocrypha, referring to biblical texts excluded from the official canon — writings considered of uncertain or dubious origin. From there it broadened into its modern sense of any story or claim whose authenticity is doubtful despite its wide circulation.