drizzle

Other forms: drizzling; drizzled; drizzles

Drizzle is a very light rain shower. You might grab an umbrella before you head out for a walk in the drizzle.

When the weather report calls for drizzle, you know it's going to be a damp day, although you might leave your galoshes and rain suit at home. Drizzle is heavier than mist, but just a bit — and you can use it as a verb, too: "It's supposed to drizzle this evening, but our picnic is still on." The word drizzle stems from the now-obsolete drysning, "a falling of dew," from the Old English drēosan, "to fall."