EN

Synonyms for douse

14 synonyms
3 antonyms
2 meanings

verb
noun

Most common

drench soak sop souse dip dunk

Synonyms by meaning

Verb

1. Drench

drench, soak, sop, souse

2. Dip

dip, dunk, plunge

Other

put out, extinguish, submerge, duck, immerse

Noun

pelt, rhabdomancy

Antonyms

kindle, smolder, ignite

All antonyms of douse →

Definitions

v. 1
To plunge suddenly into water; to duck; to immerse.
v. 2
To fall suddenly into water.
n. 1
A sudden plunging into water.

Related words

Other spellings: dowse

Forms

Plural: douses → pelts…
Past participle: doused
e.g. doused → drenched, soaked, sopped, soused…

Choose the right word

Douse, Plunge, Immerse or Duck?

To plunge is to immerse suddenly and violently, for which douse and duck are colloquial terms.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

soak You have tennis elbow. Soak your arm in warm water.
dip Hummus is a dip or spread made from chickpeas.
extinguish Benedito poured water on the fire to extinguish it.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
douse		rising
soak		rising
sop		steady
drench		falling
souse		steady
dip		falling

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: dip¹, sop¹
4 letters: duck¹, soak¹, dunk¹, pelt¹
5 letters: souse
6 letters: plunge¹, drench¹
7 letters: immerse²
8 letters: submerge²
10 letters: extinguish³
11 letters: rhabdomancy

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (immerse² = 2 syllables).