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 a 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. 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
- Middle English, from Latin nebulōsus, from nebula, cloud; see nebh- in Indo-European roots.
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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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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rolls off the tongue
Words you love saying because they feel and sound so good!
(Not to be conflated with words you love saying because they are onomatopoeic, I have another list for that)gubernatorial, predeliction, quibbling, propensity, proclivity, insidious, nebulous, garble, crabapple, piddling, prattle, wheedling and 11 more...
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My favorites
foible, sidereal, amygdala, woodnote, cogitate, silvern, ollalieberry, ramify, diaphanous, surreality, myopia, subcelestial and 64 more...

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