Mizzle is a chiefly British word for extremely fine rain that looks or feels almost like mist. The drops may be difficult to see, but they can gradually make your clothes and hair wet.
The word is usually used as a noun. It often appears with weather verbs such as fall, drift, or hang:
- A grey mizzle drifted across the fields.
- We spent the morning walking through the mizzle.
It can also be used as a verb meaning “to rain in very small drops.” This use is less common and may sound regional or literary:
- It began to mizzle just before sunset.
- It had been mizzling for hours, and the path was slippery.
Mizzle overlaps in meaning with drizzle, and there is no strict everyday boundary between them. However, mizzle especially emphasizes rain that is so fine that it resembles mist. Drizzle is much more widely used in international English, while mizzle may give a description a British, regional, or atmospheric quality.
Do not confuse rain like this with ordinary mist or fog. Mist consists of tiny water droplets suspended in the air, while mizzle is understood as rain, even when the falling drops are barely noticeable.