bedraggled

The verbs draggle and bedraggle mean to soil something, such as a piece of clothing, by dragging it over damp ground or in mud. The adjective bedraggled is quite specific—it means dirty and limp due to having been dragged in this way. The words soiled and sullied are often used to mean the same thing.

A word specific to being made dirty by mud is muddied. A more general word is dirtied. A milder and even less specific term is untidy.

Something, such as a reputation, could be described as bedraggled in a figurative sense to mean that it has been besmirched or tarnished.

The opposite of something that’s bedraggled is something that’s been carefully kept clean. Perhaps the best antonyms are immaculate and spotless (both of which can be used in literal and figurative ways).

Bedraggled is a fun word, but it’s not used very often.

Here are some examples of bedraggled in a sentence:

• The bottom of his long cloak was bedraggled after constantly dipping into puddles.
• The kids came back from their walk on the muddy path completely bedraggled.
• The bedraggled reputation of the mayor could not be laundered after yet another scandal.

Bedraggled can be a verb or an adjective depending on how it’s being used. It comes from the past tense of the verb bedraggle.