nebulous

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. adjective lacking definite form or limits; - H.T.Moore
  2. adjective of or relating to or resembling a nebula
  3. adjective lacking definition or definite content; ; - Jane Austen

Etymology

From Middle English, 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”). Cognates *Ancient Greek νέφος (néphos, “cloud”) *German Nebel **Old High German nebul (“cloud, fog”) *Old English nifol, neowol (“dark, gloomy, obscure, precipitous, prone”) by surface analysis, nebula + -ous. More at neveling, nuel.

In classic literature

Synonyms

cloudy, nebulose

A single word — an entire dictionary opens.

Type a word, a sentence, a book title, or a link to an English article. WordNet and the Classics answer.

Try

A library of classics · a vault of words · instant etymology & meaning

Continue reading