In order to elucidate the effects and mechanisms of water immersion on the ignition sensitivity and explosion characteristics of coal dust with different degrees of coalification, this study selected three types of coal dust samples with different ranks. The ignition sensitivity and explosion parameters of the coal dust samples before and after water immersion were measured using Godbert-Greenwald furnaces, Hartmann tubes, and a 20-L explosion chamber. The micro mechanisms causing the variations in the combustion and explosion characteristics of different coal dust samples were analyzed through TG/DTG-DSC and FTIR techniques. The results revealed that water immersion led to a more significant increase in the ignition sensitivity of low-rank coal dust and an overall enhancement in the explosion intensity of coal dust with different ranks. Variations in the characteristic temperatures and ranges of characteristic stages among the water-immersed coal samples of different ranks resulted in distinct changes in ignition behavior and explosion intensity. Furthermore, the water immersion process primarily influenced the hydroxyl functional group content in brown coal, while its impact on higher-rank coal dust samples was primarily observed in the oxygen-containing functional group region.