nebulous
UK/ˈnɛbjʊləs/
nebulous adjective: in the form of a cloud or haze; hazy.
Adjective
nebulous (comparative more nebulous, superlative most nebulous)
- In the form of a cloud or haze; hazy.
- An electric lantern flashed out and centred its circle of brilliance on the stairs opposite. Its radiance pierced the nebulous balloon of violet smoke that was rising to the roof and brought out every detail of the wall beyond.1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC
- Vague or ill-defined.
- The magistrate could not possibly, on the evidence, have held them for a higher court. On the one hand the compositors and pressmen were forced to admit that the light was uncertain, that they were themselves much perturbed, and that it was difficult for them to swear to the identity of the...1915, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear
- The mothers in NaturalMoms discussed nebulous fears about potential harms from vaccines and their distrust of the medical professionals who promoted a universal immunization schedule.2018 January 2, Samantha D. Gottlieb, “8. Mothers and Gardasil”, in Not Quite a Cancer Vaccine. Selling HPV and Cervical Cancer, New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, →DOI, →ISBN, page...
- Relating to a nebula or nebulae.
nebulous meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
nebulous in Tamil
- தெளிவற்ற, மங்கலான, முகிலொத்த
nebulous in Urdu
- nebulous
- ابر نما abr numā
nebulous in Bengali
- মেঘসদৃশ, ঝাপসা, অস্পষ্ট, ধূমান্ধকার
nebulous in Malayalam
- മൂടലുള്ള, മങ്ങിയ, അസ്പഷ്ടമായ
More languagesFewer languages
- nebulous in Kannada
- ನೀಹಾರಿಕೆಯಂಥ, ಮುಸುಕು ಮೋಡದಂತೆ ಕಾಣುವ, ಅಸ್ಪಷ್ಟ, ಕದಡಿದ
Examples of nebulous in a sentence
- It’s the nebulous, free-floating awe behind 89% of J.J.
- Although its use is widely prevalent, human terrain is currently an imprecise term which is vague and nebulous.
- The whole thing is nebulous; fabulous; fantastic.
Synonyms of nebulous
Antonyms
Forms of nebulous
| comparative | more nebulous |
|---|---|
| superlative | most nebulous |
Origin of nebulous
Inherited from Middle English nebulous, from Middle French nebuleus, from Latin nebulōsus (“full of mist, foggy, cloudy”), from nebula (“mist, vapour, cloud”), from Proto-Indo-European *nébʰos (“cloud, vapor, fog, moist, sky”). By surface analysis, nebula + -ous. More at neveling, nuel. Cognates * Ancient Greek νέφος (néphos, “cloud”) * German Nebel ** Old High German nebul (“cloud, fog”) * Old English nifol, neowol (“dark, gloomy, obscure, precipitous, prone”)
Words formed from nebulous
Questions about nebulous
- What does nebulous mean?
- Nebulous means in the form of a cloud or haze; hazy.
- What is nebulous in Tamil?
- Nebulous in Tamil is தெளிவற்ற, மங்கலான, முகிலொத்த. See Nebulous meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is nebulous?
- Nebulous is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce nebulous?
- Nebulous is pronounced /ˈnɛbjʊləs/ (UK).
Words near nebulous in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: nebulous (page history and authors); nebulous (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ابر نما (Urdu) (page history and authors); nebulous (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); nebulous (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); nebulous (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). 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.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-nebulous.ogg.
Cite this entry: “nebulous.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/nebulous. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.