Below you can find an extensive “Pluviocabulary,” or list of words (all of which “actually exist” in the Oxford English Dictionary) related to rain and rainfall assembled by New York Times columnist, Ben Schott. I’m not sure that people would really know what you meant if you tried to use most of the words at left in a conversation, but it’s nice to have the option, right? For my part, I much prefer skiffs, shatters, and scats to a flaught, a flaw, or a scud. Don’t you?
I made a smaller list for rain in Swedish. It seems to me with all the rain we get here that there should be a much more extensive list, but I need access to the whole official Norstedts Swedish dictionary online so I can search for all the rain-related terms instead of just looking for translations of English terms.
Swedish words for rain!
Maybe knowing the right word to describe the rain will be satisfying enough to make me happy when it rains instead of grumpy.
Rain: regn
Rainy weather: regnväder
A “soaker” (the dictionary’s term, not mine): rotblöta
A few drops of rain: en skvätt regn
A gentle steady rain: ett strilande regn
A violent storm: ett häftigt oväder
Acid rain: surt regn
A dash of rain: störtskur
Downpour, drencher, torrent: störtskur
Drizzle (noun): duggregn
Every cloud has a silver lining: efter regn kommer solsken (literally: the sunshine comes after rain)
Heavy downpour: ett häftigt regn
Heavy rain: slagregn, piskande regn
It is steadily pouring down: Regnet silar ned
It never rains but it pours: En olycka kommer sällan ensam; Allting ska då komma på en gang (these phrases have the same overall meaning, but it doesn’t refer to rain at all)
It’s raining cats and dogs: Det öser ner (no cats, no dogs)
Nasty weather: regn och rusk
Pluvial: regn-; regnig; regnrik
Pouring rain, downpour: ösregn, spöregn, hällregn
Pouring rain: hällande regn, ösregn
Rain or shine: i regn och sol[sken[
Rain showers: regnskurar
Rainforest: regnskog
Sheets of rain, rain coming down in sheets: skyfall
Soft rain : lätt regn
The rain came down steadily: regnet strilade ned
The rain is beating against the window: regnet slår mot fönstret
The rain was coming down in buckets: regnet stod som spön i backen
The rain was pelting down: regnet störtade ned
There was rain, it rained: det blev regn
There’s going to be rain: det blir regn
To be caught in the rain: överraskas av regnet
To drizzle: småregn
Torrential rain: skyfallsliknande regn
Synonyms for “duggregn” (drizzle): småregn, fint regn, findroppigt regn
Synonyms for ” ösregn” (pouring rain/downpour): spöregn, störtregn, störtskur, hällregn, hällande regn, kraftigt regn, skyfall, rotblöta
