What does wettable mean?
Wettable is an adjective meaning capable of being made wet or moistened. It is especially useful when discussing surfaces, coatings, powders, and other materials whose ability to receive a liquid matters. A wettable surface can be contacted by a liquid rather than simply repelling it; the word therefore often carries a technical or industrial implication, although it is also understandable in ordinary descriptions. In printing, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and materials science, the term can distinguish products designed to accept a liquid from those that resist wetting. It is a precise, practical word rather than a formal synonym for “damp” or “wet.” Because wettability is relative—one material may be more or less wettable than another—the adjective frequently appears in comparative or modified descriptions, such as “highly wettable.” Its usefulness lies in making the physical relationship between a material and liquid explicit.
adjectiveCapable of being wetted or moistened; able to accept a liquid on its surface.
- Capable of being wetted or moistened, especially of a surface, coating, powder, or material that can accept a liquid.
"The coating is formulated to be wettable, allowing the ink to spread evenly across the paper."
"The paper has a wettable surface that allows the ink to adhere evenly."
"Farmers apply the wettable powder when the leaves need to retain the treatment."
Water-repellent surfaces make a dramatic entrance, but “wettable” is the useful word for the opposite: a material that can actually be made wet.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of wettable
Wettable is an English formation combining wet with the suffix -able, meaning “able to be.” The suffix was borrowed into English through Old French and Latin and became productive for forming adjectives. The base wet descends from Old English wæt and is related to cognate forms in other Germanic languages.
Related word forms
How wettable is actually used
Technical and industrial in tendency, especially in printing, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, coatings, and materials science. It normally describes a surface or material, not a liquid itself.