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Today in my city, it's raining very slowly. What is this called in English?.

I am from India. In Hindi we say 'Rimjhim'. What is it called in English?

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closed as general reference by tchrist, J.R., Marthaª, RegDwigнt Aug 15 '12 at 22:35


See also What kind of rain is “sprinkles”? –  Cameron Aug 15 '12 at 19:16

2 Answers 2

up vote 16 down vote accepted

We use the words "drizzling" or "sprinkling" here.

They both mean "to rain or let fall in fine drops"

If it's very, very light rain, you can use the word "mist". "Drizzling" usually implies a little harder rain than "sprinkling".

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British English doesn't use sprinkling as a verb, preferring spitting instead. We may have a sprinkling of light rain, though. –  Andrew Leach Aug 15 '12 at 19:29
It's very common in American English. I've never heard "spitting" to describe rain (never been to Britain either). –  American Luke Aug 15 '12 at 19:36

Have you looked up the synonyms for rain in a thesaurus, like here for example?

The normal answer is sprinkle at first, or maybe drizzle if it persists or is a bit heavier.

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