What does drizzle mean?
Drizzle describes the gentlest form of rain — a fall of very fine, closely spaced water droplets that may continue for hours without ever forming true drops heavy enough to splash. As a noun it names this kind of rain ("a cold drizzle was falling"); as an intransitive verb it means to rain in that way ("it's been drizzling since dawn"). English also uses the verb transitively in cooking, where to drizzle oil, honey, or sauce is to pour it in a slow, thin stream across food. The word carries mild, unthreatening connotations: drizzle is more a nuisance than a danger, though its persistence can be quietly miserable, especially on grey coastal days. Meteorologists distinguish it from ordinary rain by droplet size, generally under half a millimetre. Derived forms include "drizzly" for damp weather and "drizzling" as the continuous verb form. It is standard in both British and American English, with no significant regional restriction.
Light rain in very fine drops.
"A thin drizzle drifted across the harbour all morning."
To rain lightly in fine drops; also, to pour a thin stream of liquid over something.
"It had been drizzling since we left the house."
The transitive sense ("drizzle the syrup over the pancakes") belongs chiefly to cooking contexts.
Rarely used in the plural; "drizzle" normally functions as an uncountable noun referring to the weather condition generally.
"Coastal towns know drizzles of this kind well enough not to bother with umbrellas."
In Britain, meteorologists officially classify drizzle as raindrops smaller than half a millimetre — so tiny they seem to hang in the air.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of drizzle
The origin of "drizzle" is genuinely obscure, which lexicographers acknowledge openly rather than papering over. It appeared in English in the mid-16th century as a dialectal verb meaning to rain lightly, but no secure ancestor has been identified in earlier languages; some suggest it arose as an expressive, imitative formation for the sound or feel of fine rain. Because its root is uncertain, there are no established cognates in other languages, and related-looking words such as "dreary" are not actually connected. What is certain is that the noun sense developed from the verb, and the culinary sense of pouring liquid in a thin stream is a later, metaphorical extension.
Related word forms
How drizzle is actually used
As a weather word, "drizzle" is slightly more formal than informal alternatives like "spitting" (chiefly British) and suggests a mild, often prolonged dampness rather than brief sprinkling. The cooking sense is common in recipes and food writing. The adjective form is "drizzly," used mainly for weather.
Easily confused with drizzle
"Dribble" means to flow or let fall in small drops (or to move a ball with small kicks/taps), while "drizzle" refers specifically to very light rain — or, in cooking, pouring liquid in a thin stream.