Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Cloudy, misty, or hazy.
- adj. Lacking definite form or limits; vague: nebulous assurances of future cooperation.
- adj. Of, relating to, or characteristic of a nebula.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Cloudy; hazy: used literally or figuratively.
- In astronomy, pertaining to a nebula; having the appearance of a nebula; nebular.
Wiktionary
- adj. In the form of cloud or haze; hazy.
- adj. Vague or ill-defined.
- adj. Relating to a nebula or nebulae.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Cloudy; hazy; misty.
- adj. (Astron.) Of, pertaining to, or having the appearance of, a nebula; nebular; cloudlike.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. lacking definite form or limits
- adj. lacking definition or definite content
- adj. of or relating to or resembling a nebula
Etymologies
- From Middle English, from Latin nebulōsus ("full of mist, foggy, cloudy"), from nebula ("mist, vapour, cloud"), from Proto-Indo-European *nébʰos (“cloud, vapor, fog, moist, sky”). Cognate with Ancient Greek νέφος (néphos, "cloud"), Old High German nebul ("cloud, fog") (German Nebel), Old English nifol, neowol ("dark, gloomy, obscure, precipitous, prone"). More at neveling, nuel. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, from Latin nebulōsus, from nebula, cloud; see nebh- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“He wants to recycle setting for future stories, so all of the most-entertaining characters have to survive through the end of the story (or at least die in nebulous ways so that he can bring them back, if need be).”
“Anyway, rather than continue talking about this stuff in nebulous terms, I think I’ll switch gears here, and point a finger at myself.”
“Photographs of weapon-clad partisan women generously adorn Resistance literature, but the actual experiences of women partisans remain nebulous.”
Arms and the Woman: Just Warriors and Greek Feminist Identity
“Now I'm no economist -- my understanding of economic theory can best be described as nebulous -- and I am aware that others whose views I hold in high regard, such as Brad DeLong and Paul Krugman, have come out in (very) tentative support of the plan (despite having their own deep misgivings), so I won't dwell on its merits.”
Jeremy Jacquot: Economic Crisis? What About the Climate Crisis?
“This comet is about 40,000 miles in diameter, and of that class termed nebulous, having no tail, and probably no solid nucleus.”
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 20, No. 567, September 22, 1832
“The nebulous is a striking peculiarity of the style of the Vicar of”
“Then, again, our astral space shews what are called nebulous stars, -- namely, luminous spherical objects, bright in the centre and dull towards the extremities.”
“It's all nebulous, which is particularly unreasonable considering your staunch condemnation of these concepts that you cannot define!”
“Atiku now has his eyes in the so-called nebulous mega party having lost grip of the AC with his self serving antics.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘nebulous’.
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1100
abound, technology, branch of knowled..., prognosticate, automaton, matron, an older married ..., realm, special field of ..., kingdom, annals, historical records and 981 more...
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Impressionism
Words that describe the art of the impressionist era.
seascapes, landscapes, modern, impression, impressionist, contemporary, flicker, sensation, modernity, perceived, perceiving, momentary and 142 more...
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sdamle1
echt
echt, apocalypse, resurgence, forthright, logorrhea, mercurial, torrid, exorcise, obscure, intrusive, morose, vindictive and 100 more...
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allover
reintegrate, spight, surveillant, harmonize, Colophon, workplace, bigoted, unsighted, bridgework, salutation, voltmeter, octane and 159 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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GRE 2014
abate, abdicate, abase, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
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Introverted
Quiet, shy, Introverted, reserved, isolated, mysterious
abashed, alienated, alone, anonymous, antisocial, ascetic, asocial, austere, autonomous, awkward, bashful, clannish and 91 more...
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N
letters starting with n
nadir, naive, narcissist, nascent, natation, natty, nauseate, nautical, nebulous, necromancy, nefarious, negate and 24 more...
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My favorites
foible, sidereal, amygdala, woodnote, cogitate, silvern, ollalieberry, ramify, diaphanous, surreality, myopia, subcelestial and 75 more...
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Verba Silvestria
Words of the Woods or Words of the Wilds
sylvestral, sylvester, silvester, silvestrian, sylvestrian, silvatic, sylvatic, silvan, sylvan, silva, sylva, nemorose and 108 more...
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Barron's 1100 words you need to know ...
abstemious, derogatory, disparate, edifice, extant, indict, levity, lugubrious, maudlin, nebulous, omnivorous, pesky and 8 more...
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ICE
quincunx, adoxography, panjundrum, breloque, surd, scripturient, rousant, favrile, embouchure, aquarelle, griffonage, sussultatory and 234 more...
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Words
teeter, headlong, reprobate, canard, ersatz, prevaricate, trenchant, minatory, fatuous, stultify, vitiate, fulminate and 135 more...
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collection
sanguine, vie, antebellum, glacial, treacly, iconoclast, lissom, anathema, serendipity, parsimonious, histrionic, contemptuous and 279 more...
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Eazy E
motley, callous, languid, copious, dubious, contemptible, disparage, sporadic, gratuitous, disillusioned, conflagration, concordance and 99 more...
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Novel Words
Concise words to sprinkle in my prose.
apropos, perception, discombobulated, adumbrate, apogee, antinomy, sanguine, glyph, taciturn, aesthetic, truncate, coffee and 143 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for nebulous.

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