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Nowadays, seethed is the past tense and past participle form of the verb seethe (which originally meant "to boil or stew"). Originally, however, seethe could also be conjugated in the past tense as sod and in the past participle as sodden. By the 14th century, sodden had become an independent adjective synonymous with boiled. And, by the 16th century, it had taken on the figurative sense used to describe someone who appears dull, expressionless, or stupid, particularly as a result of heavy drinking. Today, sodden is commonly used as a synonym of soaked or saturated. Seethe followed a different figurative path: while one who is sodden may appear dull, torpid, or sluggish, one who is seething is highly agitated, like a pot of boiling water.
Synonyms
Examples of sodden in a Sentence
Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 6 Dec. 2024
But discoveries of ocean worlds on Saturn’s Enceladus and Jupiter’s Europa, both of which have spouted similar-looking plumes, have made scientists cautiously hopeful that the Neptunian moon could also be harboring a sodden secret.
—Shi En Kim, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Nov. 2024
Theresa Braine, New York Daily News, 30 July 2024
Adding to the misery, the rainy season has set in, flooding already sodden tent camps where many live.
—A Special Correspondent, Los Angeles Times, 28 Dec. 2023
See all Example Sentences for sodden 
Dictionary Entries Near sodden
Cite this Entry
“Sodden.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sodden. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.
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