bedraggled

Everyday

1. Wet, dirty and messy, as when you have been out in rain or mud. tree →
2. Looking untidy, worn out and sorry for yourself. tree →

In the lessons

In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland the birds and animals come out of the Pool of Tears a «queer-looking party», with draggled feathers and wet fur, and must get dry (hence the Caucus-race). Stories use «bedraggled» to show someone has had a hard time: a bedraggled cat after a storm. In everyday life: a bedraggled teddy, bedraggled flowers after rain.

Examples

• The kitten came in from the rain looking bedraggled. tree →
• After the storm, the garden flowers were bedraggled and bent. tree →
• The bedraggled hikers finally reached the hut. tree →
• The animals climbed out of the pool wet and bedraggled. tree →
• My old teddy is bedraggled but I still love him. tree →
• Toad arrived home bedraggled, muddy and very sorry for himself. tree →
• Glad he was to see a light, and a minute after he was kneeling, dazed, drenched, and bedraggled by the hearth side. tree →

Note

Spelled with double g and one l: «bedraggled» (be- + draggled). Used as an adjective.