Meanings
alternative wet-behind-the-ears
- idiomaticInexperienced; just beginning; immature (especially in judgment).
"These young whippersnappers are still wet behind the ears."
2004 September 8, Jarrett Bell, “Bengals' Kitna 'classy' about losing job to Palmer”, in USA Today, retrieved 05 Oct 20103 more examples
[They would put] their hands behind their ears and pat the top of their heads to taunt me with the fact that I was still wet behind the ears and soft on top of the head.
1903 August 2, “The Boy Whose Parents Wanted Him to Be Useful”, in Chicago Tribune, retrieved 05 Oct 2010, page B2Every week day, pool rooms are filled with scores of boys still "wet behind the ears" who have no business anywhere but in the classroom.
1950 January 13, Roger Appleton, “Police to End Teen-Age Gambling: Strike at Pool Hall Hangouts”, in Ottawa Citizen, Canada, retrieved 05 Oct 2010, page 18Now, here was the freshly minted FDA commissioner, still wet behind the ears at 39.
1991 July 15, Dick Thompson, “The Man with the Plan”, in TimeSynonyms: green behind the ears>> · Antonyms: dry behind the ears
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveInexperienced; just beginning; immature (especially in judgment).
Origin
- Germanfeucht hinter den Ohren
- Englishwet behind the ears
First use appears c. 1850 in Pennsylvania, a calque of German feucht hinter den Ohren. From the drying of amniotic fluid of a baby after birth, specifically a newborn farm animal, whose ears are the last to dry, partly because it is licked dry by its mother everywhere else. Alternative forms also derive from German.
More words from German
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian с жълто около устата
- с жълто около устата (s žălto okolo ustata)inexperienced, not seasoned
Chinese Cantonese 乳臭未乾 /乳臭未干
- 乳臭未乾 /乳臭未干 (jyu⁵ cau³ mei⁶ gon¹)inexperienced, not seasoned
Chinese Mandarin 乳臭未乾 /乳臭未干, 少不更事的
- 乳臭未乾 /乳臭未干 (rǔxiùwèigān)inexperienced, not seasoned
- 少不更事的 (shàobùgēngshìde, shàobùjīngshìde)inexperienced, not seasoned
Dutch nat achter de oren
- nat achter de oreninexperienced, not seasoned
Finnish kokematon, märkäkorva
- kokematoninexperienced, not seasoned
- märkäkorvainexperienced, not seasoned
German grün hinter den Ohren, noch grün hinter den Ohren sein
- grün hinter den Ohreninexperienced, not seasoned
- noch grün hinter den Ohren seininexperienced, not seasoned
- nicht trocken hinter den Ohreninexperienced, not seasoned
- noch nicht trocken hinter den Ohreninexperienced, not seasoned
- feucht hinter den Ohreninexperienced, not seasoned
- noch feucht hinter den Ohreninexperienced, not seasoned
Hungarian zöldfülű, tejfölösszájú
- zöldfülűinexperienced, not seasoned
- tejfölösszájúinexperienced, not seasoned
- kezdőinexperienced, not seasoned
- tapasztalatlaninexperienced, not seasoned
Icelandic óharðnaður, óreyndur
- óharðnaðurinexperienced, not seasoned
- óreyndurinexperienced, not seasoned
Indonesian ingusan
- ingusaninexperienced, not seasoned
Italian alle prime armi, muovere i primi passi
- alle prime armiinexperienced, not seasoned
- muovere i primi passiinexperienced, not seasoned
- essere un novellinoinexperienced, not seasoned
- di primo peloinexperienced, not seasoned
Japanese 尻が青い
- 尻が青いinexperienced, not seasoned
Latvian vēl slapjš aiz ausīm
- vēl slapjš aiz ausīminexperienced, not seasoned
Norwegian våt bak ørene
- våt bak øreneinexperienced, not seasoned
Polish mieć mleko pod nosem
- mieć mleko pod noseminexperienced, not seasoned
Russian молоко́ на губа́х не обсо́хло
- молоко́ на губа́х не обсо́хло (molokó na gubáx ne obsóxlo)inexperienced, not seasoned
Vietnamese chân ướt chân ráo
- chân ướt chân ráoinexperienced, not seasoned
Cite this entry
wet behind the ears. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wet%20behind%20the%20ears
“wet behind the ears.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wet%20behind%20the%20ears. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wet behind the ears,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wet%20behind%20the%20ears.
Source: wet behind the ears on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.