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WORDNET DICTIONARY
CIDE DICTIONARY
OXFORD DICTIONARY
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nebulous
WORDNET DICTIONARY
Adjective nebulous has 3 senses
- nebulous(s = adj.all) cloudy, nebulose - lacking definite form or limits; "gropes among cloudy issues toward a feeble conclusion"; "nebulous distinction between pride and conceit"
- nebulous(a = adj.pert) nebular - of or relating to or resembling a nebula; "the nebular hypothesis of the origin of the solar system" Derived form noun nebula3
- nebulous(s = adj.all) unfixed - lacking definition or definite content; "nebulous reasons"; "unfixed as were her general notions of what men ought to be"
CIDE DICTIONARY
nebulous, a. [L. nebulosus: cf. F. nébuleux. See Nebula.].
- Cloudy; hazy; misty. [1913 Webster]
- Of, pertaining to, or having the appearance of, a nebula; nebular; cloudlike. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
nebulous, adj.
1 cloudlike.
2 a formless, clouded. b hazy, indistinct, vague (put forward a few nebulous ideas).
3 Astron. of or like a nebula or nebulae.
1 cloudlike.
2 a formless, clouded. b hazy, indistinct, vague (put forward a few nebulous ideas).
3 Astron. of or like a nebula or nebulae.
Idiom
nebulous star a small cluster of indistinct stars, or a star in a luminous haze.
Derivative
nebulosity n. nebulously adv. nebulousness n.
Etymology
ME f. F n{eacute}buleux or L nebulosus (as NEBULA)
THESAURUS
nebulous
Cynthian, abstract, amorphous, anagalactic, asteroidal, astral, astrologic, astrologistic, astrologous, astronomic, astrophysical, bland, blind, blurred, broad, castellatus, celestial, circumplanetary, cirrose, cirrous, cislunar, clear as mud, cloud-flecked, clouded, cloudy, collective, cumuliform, cumulous, dark, dim, dirty, empyreal, empyrean, equinoctial, extragalactic, faint, featureless, foggy, fuzzy, galactic, general, generalized, generic, gloomy, hazy, heavenly, heavy, heliacal, ill-defined, indefinite, indeterminate, indistinct, intercosmic, interplanetary, intersidereal, interstellar, lenticularis, lunar, lunary, lunate, lunular, lunulate, mammatus, meteoric, meteoritic, misty, muddy, murky, nebular, nebulose, neutral, nimbose, nonspecific, nubilous, obscure, opaque, overcast, overclouded, pale, planetal, planetarian, planetary, planetesimal, semilunar, shadowy, shapeless, sidereal, solar, sphery, squally, star-spangled, star-studded, starry, stellar, stellary, stormy, stratiform, stratous, terrestrial, thunderheaded, transcendent, turbid, uncharacterized, unclear, undifferentiated, unplain, unspecified, uranic, vague, wide, zodiacalROGET THESAURUS
nebulous
Bubble
N bubble; cloud, bubble, foam, froth, head, spume, lather, suds, spray, surf, yeast, barm, spindrift, cloud, vapor, fog, mist, haze, steam, geyser, scud, messenger, rack, nimbus, cumulus, woolpack, cirrus, stratus, cirrostratus, cumulostratus, cirrocumulus, mackerel sky, mare's tale, dirty sky, curl cloud, frost smoke, thunderhead, nephelognosy, nephograph, nephology, effervescence, fermentation, bubbling, nebula, cloudliness, nebulosity, bubbling, frothy, nappy, effervescent, sparkling, mousseux, frothy, up, cloudy, thunderheaded, vaporous, nebulous, overcast, the lowring element scowls o'er the darkened lands.Dimness
N dimness, darkness, paleness, half light, demi-jour, partial shadow, partial eclipse, shadow of a shade, glimmer, gliming, nebulosity, cloud, eclipse, aurora, dusk, twilight, shades of evening, crepuscule, cockshut time, break of day, daybreak, dawn, moonlight, moonbeam, moonglade, moonshine, starlight, owl's light, candlelight, rushlight, firelight, farthing candle, dim, dull, lackluster, dingy, darkish, shorn of its beams, dark, faint, shadowed forth, glassy, cloudy, misty, blear, muggy, fuliginous, nebulous, nebular, obnubilated, overcast, crepuscular, muddy, lurid, leaden, dun, dirty, looming, pale, confused.Unintelligibility
N unintelligibility, incomprehensibility, imperspicuity, inconceivableness, vagueness, obscurity, ambiguity, doubtful meaning, uncertainty, perplexity, spinosity, obscurum per obscurius, mystification, latency, transcendentalism, paradox, oxymoron, riddle, enigma, puzzle, diagnus vindice nodus, sealed book, steganography, freemasonry, pons asinorum, asses' bridge, high Dutch, Greek, Hebrew, jargon, unintelligible, unaccountable, undecipherable, undiscoverable, unknowable, unfathomable, incognizable, inexplicable, inscrutable, inapprehensible, incomprehensible, insolvable, insoluble, impenetrable, illegible, as Greek to one, unexplained, paradoxical, enigmatic, enigmatical, puzzling (secret), indecipherable, obscure, dark, muddy, clear as mud, seen through a mist, dim, nebulous, shrouded in mystery, opaque, dense, undiscernible, misty, hidden, latent, indefinite, garbled, perplexed, undetermined, vague, loose, ambiguous, mysterious, mystic, mystical, acroamatic, acroamatical, metempirical, transcendental, occult, recondite, abstruse, crabbed, inconceivable, inconceptible, searchless, above comprehension, beyond comprehension, past comprehension, beyond one's depth, unconceived, inexpressible, undefinable, incommunicable, unpredictable, unforeseeable, it's Greek to me.
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