The more senses you stimulate in your writing, the more you engage readers. Try intensifying narrative with water.

We all know what water feels like: wet. However, it can also feel cold, hot, or slimy. It can roil like an angry spirit, hiss as though it were a venomous viper, or lie smooth and serene on a sunny day.

Along with weather, water can set a mood. The word suggestions in this post comprise three sections: Adjectives, Verbs, and Nouns. You can form verbs from many of the nouns and vice versa, or create adjectives by adding -ing to many of the verbs.

Let’s consider burble — used once as a noun, next as a verb, and finally as an adjective — in three simple sentences:

The burble of the brook woke her from a deep slumber.

The brook burbled, waking her from a deep slumber.

The burbling brook woke her from a deep slumber.

Now let’s get more creative. Which of the following do you prefer?

The boys walked home from school. By the time they got there, their boots were all wet.

The boys meandered home from school, splooshing in every puddle they discovered, until their boots filled with muck.

The second example, just a few words longer, paints a picture. Can you see the boys covered with muddy water and soaked to the skin?

Drill through the following lists of water words for ideas to make your writing sparkle.

Adjectives

A and B
abysmal, aerated, angry, aquatic, Arctic, ashore, bitter, blistering, bottomless, bracing, brackish, briny, bubbly

C
calm, carbonated, chaotic, choppy, chilly, clamorous, clear, cloudy, coastal, coastward, cold, cool, contaminated, crossable, crystal-clear

D to F
dangerous, deep, deep-sea, downriver, dirty, drizzly, effervescent, feral, fetid, filthy, fizzy, fluvial, foamy, foul, freezing, fresh, frothy

G to L
glacial, glassy, gloomy, hazardous, heavy, high, hostile, hot, icy, inshore, landward, littoral, low, lukewarm

M and N
marine, maritime, menacing, mirror-like, moist, mucky, muddy, murky, nautical, naval, navigable, noisy

O to R
oceangoing, oceanic, offshore, ominous, opaque, passable, peaceful, perilous, placid, polar, polluted, prismatic, pure, quiet, rainy, reflective, refreshing, relaxing, rough

S
saline, saltwater, salty, seafaring, seagoing, seaside, seaworthy, serene, shallow, shiny, showery, slick, slimy, sloppy, sluggish, smooth, stagnant, still, stormy, sudsy, swollen

T
tainted, tepid, thick, tidal, temperate, tempestuous, torpid, torrential, tranquil, tropical, turbulent

U to W
undisturbed, untainted, untamed, upriver, violent, viscous, warm, wavy, wet, wholesome, wild, wintry

Verbs

B and C
baptize, bathe, bedew, besprinkle, boil, break, buckle, burble, burst, churn, clap, course, crash, creep, curve

D and E
dabble, dampen, dilute, douse, drench, drill, drive, drown, drum, duck, dump, dunk, ebb, engulf, erupt, explode, exude

F to I
flush, freeze, glitter, gurgle, gush, heave, hiss, hose, humidify, immerse, inch, irrigate

L to O
lap, lade, launder, lave, leap, marinate, meander, melt, moisten, moisturize, ooze, overrun

P to R
penetrate, percolate, permeate, perspire, plunge, pound, pour, rise, roar, roil, roll, run, rush

S
sail, saturate, scald, seep, seethe, shimmer, shoot, sizzle, slabber, slap, slaver, slobber, slop, slosh, smother, snake, soak, sog, sop, souse, sparkle, spill, spin, spit, sploosh, splosh, spout, spray, spread, sprinkle, spurt, squirt, stain, stir, steam, steep, streak, submerge, submerse, suffuse, swab, sweat, sweep, swell, swim, swirl, swish

T to W
thin, thread, threaten, topple, tickle, tug, tumble, twist, twizzle, undulate, wander, wash, waterlog, weep, wet, whip, whirl, wind

Nouns

A and B
aqueduct, arroyo, basin, bath, bay, bayou, beach, bead, beck, bog, bottleneck, bowl, brook, bubble

C
canal, cascade, channel, clamminess, coast, coastline, closeness, condensation, conduit, cove, creek, current

D
dam, dampness, dankness, deluge, depression, dip, discharge, ditch, dew, drib, dribble, drip, drizzle, drop, droplet, duct, dyke

E to G
eddy, estuary, everglade, fen, firth, flood, floodplain, flow, flux, foam, fog, froth, globule, gulf, gully, gutter

H to M
harbor, hollow, humidity, inlet, jet, key, ladle, lake, leak, liquid, logjam, lowland, maelstrom, marsh, marshland, mist, moisture

O and P
ocean, outlet, overflow, passage, pearl, peat bog, percolation, precipitation, pool, puddle

Q and R
quagmire, rain, raindrops, rainwater, reservoir, rinse, ripple, river, rivulet

S
sea, seawall, shore, shoreline, shower, sleet, sluice, sogginess, splash, splatter, strait, stream, surf, swamp

T to V
tank, tears, tide, torrent, trench, trickle, trough, tub, undercurrent, undulation, vessel, vortex

W
wake, watercourse, watershed, waterspout, water table, waterway, waterworks, wave, well, wetlands, wetness, whirlpool

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