wallow

verb

wal·​low ˈwä-(ˌ)lō 

wallowed; wallowing; wallows

intransitive verb

1

: to roll oneself about in a lazy, relaxed, or ungainly manner

hogs wallowing in the mud

2

: to billow forth : surge

3

: to devote oneself entirely

especially : to take unrestrained pleasure : delight

4

a

: to become abundantly supplied : luxuriate

a family that wallows in money

b

: to indulge oneself immoderately

wallowing in self-pity

5

: to become or remain helpless

allowed them to wallow in their ignorance

wallower

ˈwä-lə-wər 

noun

Examples of wallow in a Sentence

elephants wallowing in the river

Buffalo wallow in mud to keep away flies.

Recent Examples on the Web

The slough was wallowing with carp. —Byron W. Dalrymple, Outdoor Life, 4 June 2026

As for Toco, allowing someone to wallow in the depths of mental illness is not compassion. —Chris Roemer, Baltimore Sun, 28 May 2026

But rather than wallow, De Zerbi boldly declared his new team could win all of their remaining five matches. —Jay Harris, New York Times, 27 May 2026

She isn’t being morbid or wallowing in sadness; she’s inspired by a practice in Bhutan aimed at cultivating happiness and reducing anxiety about mortality — by thinking about death five times a day. —Madeline Holcombe, CNN Money, 23 May 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English walwen "to turn oneself over and over, writhe about, roll oneself in a substance, indulge oneself unrestrainedly," going back to Old English wealwian "to roll (of a round object), to roll from side to side (of a person or animal), roll in a substance," going back to Germanic *walwōjan-, iterative derivative of a base *walw-, also in Gothic afwalwjan "to roll away (an object)," atwalwjan "to roll up to," going back to Indo-European *u̯ol-u̯-, ablaut derivative of a base *u̯el-u̯-, whence Latin volvō, volvere "to set in a circular course, cause to roll" (< *u̯eluu̯ō), Greek eilýō, eilýein "to wrap round, envelop," Armenian gelum "to twist, squeeze"

Note: The base *u̯el-u̯- is taken to be an extension of *u̯el- "roll"—see etymology and note at welter entry 1. Though Greek eilýō is cited in the etymology, both active forms and present tense forms are rare in earlier texts. The Cambridge Greek Lexicon has a lemma only for eilȳ́omai "am wrapped up" (as well as for elýomai "curl up, crouch"). The initial ei- was presumably shifted to the present from the perfect eílȳmai "am covered," where it might result from *u̯e-u̯l- dissimilating to *u̯e-i̯l- (thus A. Sihler, New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin [Oxford, 1995], p. 490).

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for wallow

• follow
• hollow
• malo
• swallow
• apollo
• criollo

Kids Definition

wallow

1 of 2 verb

wal·​low ˈwäl-ō 

1

: to roll about in or as if in deep mud

elephants wallowing in the river

2

: to devote or indulge oneself entirely

3

: to become or remain helpless

allowed them to wallow in their ignorance

wallower

ˈwäl-ə-wər 

noun

wallow

2 of 2 noun

1

: an act of wallowing

2

: a muddy or dust-filled area where animals wallow