Bloodsoaked

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Saturated or drenched with blood, typically after violence or injury
2. Thoroughly permeated with blood from violent injury or conflict
3. Completely covered and saturated by blood from a traumatic or violent event

Etymology: "Bloodsoaked" is a plain compound: "blood" joined to "soaked," the past participle of "soak." "Soak" comes from Old English "socian," meaning to steep or to be submerged in liquid, so the adjective describes something that has been drenched through, as opposed to merely stained on the surface. The combination is transparent in a way many English compounds are not. Its two parts were both native English words long before they were joined, so it needed no borrowing from Latin or French. The word works as a single unit to describe a battlefield, a wound, or a garment, where the image is of fabric or ground saturated rather than spotted.

Synonyms: sanguine, bloody, soaked

Antonyms: clean, pure