Word.ws English Dictionary

waterproof

/ˈwɔːtəˌpruːf/US/ˈwɔt̬ɚˌpruf/

waterproof adjective: resistant to the effects of water.

Adjective

waterproof (comparative more waterproof, superlative most waterproof)

  1. (broadly, but common) Resistant to the effects of water.
    Synonyms:
    water-resistant
  2. (strictly) Made of or covered with material that doesn't allow water in; impervious to water and immune to its effects.
    • The captain did a safety drill. This covered where the emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) was located, how to make a mayday call, and where the fire extinguishers were. A crew member demonstrated how to put on an immersion suit. These survival suits are waterproof full-body garments...2025 October 21, Rose George, “‘I knew in my head we were dying’: the last voyage of the Scandies Rose”, in The Guardian
  3. (figuratively) Incapable of failing; unassailable.
    • The only waterproof plan and the one increasingly adopted by leading trades is the consolidation of the interests of all parties in a scheme of amalgamation.1931, The British Clay Worker
    • Especially within an international framework, guarding this process is of the utmost importance. The eyes of the world are focussed on the action at hand and demand a waterproof plan and execution.2001, W. A. M. van Dijk, J. L. Hovens, Netherlands. Koninklijke Marechaussee, Arresting war criminals
  4. (uncommon) Not dependent on an aquatic environment to live; thus, able to live on dry land, or at least in a semiaquatic environment.
    • At the time the Burgess Shale was laid down, life on land was pretty unexciting – there were a few primitive clubmosses and liverworts growing in wet areas near water, but little else. There would also have been a strand-line of washed-up plants and animals, edible detritus that was tantalisingly...2015, Dave Goulson, A Buzz in the Meadow: The Natural History of a French Farm, Picador, →ISBN, pages 24-25

Verb

waterproof (third-person singular simple present waterproofs, present participle waterproofing, simple past and past participle waterproofed)

  1. To make waterproof or water-resistant.
    • The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania. The first barrels of crude fetched $18 (around $450 at today’s prices).2013 August 3, “Yesterday’s fuel”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847

Noun

waterproof (countable and uncountable, plural waterproofs)

  1. A substance or preparation for rendering cloth, leather, etc., impervious to water.
  2. Cloth made waterproof, or any article made of such cloth, or of other waterproof material, as rubber; especially, an outer garment made of such material.
    • Carrados dropped the near window as a man in glistening waterproof stepped from the shelter of a lich-gate and approached.1914, Ernest Bramah, Max Carrados

waterproof meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

waterproof in Hindi

resistant to water
जलरोधी jalrodhī
made or covered with material that doesn't let water in
जलरोधी jalrodhī

waterproof in Tamil

நீர்காப்பு, நீர்த்தடுப்பு, நீர்புகா

waterproof in Marathi

जलरोधक, वॉटरप्रूफ, पाणीरोधक
More languagesFewer languages
waterproof in Bengali
জলাভেদ্য বস্ত্র, জলাভেদ্য
waterproof in Telugu
జలనిరోధిత, జలనిరోధితం, వాటర్ ప్రూఫ్
waterproof in Malayalam
വെള്ളം കടക്കാത്ത, ജലപ്രതിരോധകമായ, വെള്ളം കടത്തിവിടാത്ത, വെള്ളം കടക്കാതെ നിൽക്കുന്ന
waterproof in Kannada
ನೀರಂಟದ, ನೀರಿಳಿಯದ, ನೀರುಸೇರದ, ನೀರುಹತ್ತದ
waterproof in Punjabi
ਵਾਟਰਪ੍ਰੂਫ, ਵਾਟਰ ਪਰੂਫ, ਵਾਟਰਪਰੂਫ
waterproof in Gujarati
વોટરપ્રૂફ, જળરોધક, જળપ્રતિરોધક
waterproof in Odia
ଜଳରୋଧୀ, ଜଳରୋଧକ
waterproof in Nepali
वाटरप्रूफ, वाटरप्रुफ
waterproof in Arabic
مُقَاوِم لِلْمَاء muqāwim lilmāʔ
waterproof in Malay
kalis air, kedap air, waterpruf
waterproof in Indonesian
anti-air
waterproof in Persian
واترپروف vâterpruf
waterproof in Vietnamese
chống thấm nước, chống nước, chống thấm

Examples of waterproof in a sentence

  • These survival suits are waterproof full-body garments with a hood and integral three-finger gloves and boots.2025 October 21, Rose George, “‘I knew in my head we were dying’: the last voyage of the Scandies Rose”, in The Guardian:
  • Unless you have a 100 percent waterproof plan to defraud insurance companies, I would suggest you don't do it.2013, Barry Davies, Soldier of Fortune Guide to How to Disappear and Never Be Found, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., →ISBN:
  • To follow them, the animals had to improve their waterproofing.2015, Dave Goulson, A Buzz in the Meadow: The Natural History of a French Farm, Picador, →ISBN, pages 24-25:

All 40 example sentences with waterproof

Synonyms of waterproof

Forms of waterproof

Adjective
comparativemore waterproof
superlativemost waterproof
Verb
third-person singular presentwaterproofs
present participlewaterproofing
past participlewaterproofed
pastwaterproofed
Noun
pluralwaterproofs

Origin of waterproof

From water + -proof. Compare West Frisian wetterproef (“waterproof”), Dutch waterproef (“waterproof”).

Words formed from waterproof

Questions about waterproof

What does waterproof mean?
Waterproof means resistant to the effects of water.
What is waterproof in Hindi?
Waterproof in Hindi is जलरोधी (jalrodhī). See Waterproof meaning in Hindi.
How do you use waterproof in a sentence?
These survival suits are waterproof full-body garments with a hood and integral three-finger gloves and boots.
What part of speech is waterproof?
Waterproof can be an adjective, a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce waterproof?
Waterproof is pronounced /ˈwɔːtəˌpruːf/ (UK).

Words near waterproof in the dictionary

  1. waterpotsful
  2. waterpower
  3. waterpowers
  4. waterpox
  5. waterprimrose
  6. waterproof
  7. waterproof pants
  8. waterproofable
  9. waterproofed
  10. waterproofer
  11. waterproofers

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: waterproof (page history and authors); waterproof (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); waterproof (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); waterproof (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); waterproof (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); waterproof (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); waterproof (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); waterproof (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); waterproof (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); waterproof (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); waterproof (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); waterproof (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-waterproof.wav.

Cite this entry: “waterproof.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/waterproof. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.