nebulous
/ˈnɛbjʊləs/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.75 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Vague or ill-defined.
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "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 assailants; although they believed that the accused were among them. Cross examined by the clever attorney who had been engaged by McGinty, they were even more nebulous in their evidence."
- "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."
Etymology
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”)
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: nebulous, nebuleus, nebulōsus, *nébʰos
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈnɛbjʊləs/
- British English: /ˈnɛbjʊləs/
Inflected Forms
more nebulous (comparative)
most nebulous (superlative)