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Added 9 October 2026

nebulous

/ˈnɛbjʊləs/ adjective

Latin root: nebulōsus Wiktionary

adjective Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about nebulous at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

In the form of a cloud or haze; hazy.
Vague or ill-defined.
Relating to a nebula or nebulae.

Origin

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”)

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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