wässrig

Wässrig is a German adjective meaning watery or consisting largely of water. It describes liquids with low viscosity, thin, translucent appearance, or a lack of body. The term is used across everyday language, science, medicine, and gastronomy to convey that a substance is primarily water or has become diluted or insipid.

In chemistry and food science, wässrig denotes an aqueous solution and is used for soups, broths, and juices that are overly diluted or pale in color. In cuisine, wässrig can describe a broth lacking richness or a wine with little body, i.e., tasting flat or watery. In medicine and biology, it refers to watery secretions, such as wässriges Auge or wässrige Nasensekretion.

Etymology and usage: the word is formed from Wasser (water) and the suffix -ig. It is related to similar Germanic terms like Dutch waterig and English watery. The term is neutral in many contexts but can carry a critical nuance when describing flavor or texture, implying weakness or dilution.

Translations and context: in English, wässrig translates as watery or aqueous depending on context. It is used to describe both physical qualities (texture, consistency) and perceptual qualities (taste, appearance) in various fields from cuisine to medicine.