nebulousadj.
/ˈnɛbjᵿləs/, U.S. /ˈnɛbjələs/ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > cloud > [adjective] > cloudy or overcast
cloudya1387
nebulousc1386
nubilousc1540
dulla1616
overcast1616
claggy1621
moky1706
nubilose1730
nimbose1737
skyless1846
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > cloud > mist > [adjective]
mistyOE
nebulose?1440
roky1440
nubilousc1540
hazya1584
misting1584
vaporous1594
nebulous1597
rawky1601
claggy1621
misky1671
rooky1691
nubilose1730
mistful1733
smoky1769
rouky1808
hazed1840
c1386 Almanac (1812) 8 A thyk tyme, þat es for to say nebulus and cloudy.
1597 P. Lowe Whole Course Chirurg. ii. i. sig. D5 Euill ayre..is that which is..nebulous and commeth from stincking breathes.
1629 H. C. Disc. Drayning Fennes sig. A3v The Aer Nebulous, grosse and full of rotten Harres.
1658 E. Phillips New World Eng. Words Nebulous, cloudy, misty, foggy.
2. Clouded, turbid, opaque; (Medicine) designating a cornea or corneal lesion that is not transparent. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > transparency or translucence > opacity > [adjective]
troublea1327
nebulous?a1425
cloudy1587
shady1605
untransparent1605
untransparablea1618
opacous1625
opaque1631
opacious1643
non-transparent1653
adiaphanous1658
undiaphanous1666
opacular1761
intransparent1842
opacious1953
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 89 (MED) When þe eie is opned, if þai be in þe coniunctif, the poynt shal appere rede; if it in cornea, & white & nebulous, i. cloudy.
1820 W. Scoresby Acct. Arctic Regions I. 177 A little of this snow, dissolved in a wine glass, appeared perfectly nebulous.
1830 W. Lawrence Treat. Venereal Dis. Eye iv. 106 The right cornea is slightly nebulous.
1874 G. Lawson Dis. & Injuries Eye (ed. 2) 37 There are two forms of superficial ulcers of the cornea: the nebulous and the transparent ulcer.
1897 H. N. Howard Footsteps Proserpine 41 As from the nebulous elemental sea, Wand-smitten by the Eternal Mind, Earth rose.
1954 M. Stewart Madam, will you Talk? xx. 156 The hand, disembodied, looked like some monstrous white sea-beast, a squid or an octopus, floating in the nebulous murk behind the glass.
3. Astronomy. Of the nature of a nebula; hazy or indistinct in appearance. Also in figurative context. Cf. cloudy adj. 4c.See also nebulous star n. at Compounds and cf. also nebulousness n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > constellation > nebula > [adjective]
nebulous1652
nebulosec1670
nebular1833
the world > the universe > constellation > star-cluster > [adjective] > nebula
nebulous1652
nebulosec1670
nebular1833
the world > the universe > constellation > nebula > [adjective] > consisting of
nebulous1652
nubilous1671
nebular1833
the world > the universe > constellation > star-cluster > [adjective] > nebula > consisting of
nebulous1652
nubilous1671
nebular1833
1652 N. Culpeper Catastrophe Magnatum 49 A nebulous fixed star, which bids Saturnine people beware their eyes.
1758 J. Bradley in Philos. Trans. 1757 (Royal Soc.) 50 408 Viewing it [sc. a comet] thro' a seven-foot Telescope, I could perceive a small Nucleus (surrounded, as usual, with a nebulous atmosphere).
1784 W. Herschel in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 74 438 The interior construction of the heavens, and its various nebulous and sidereal strata.
1826 J. M. Good Bk. Nature I. v. 113 The nebulosity will be broken into different nebulæ, or smaller nebulous clouds.
1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. 318 A floating, waving band of nebulous illumination.
1869 E. Dunkin Midnight Sky 136 A small nebulous-looking object in the Crab's body.
1876 London, Edinb., & Dublin Philos. Mag. 5th Ser. 1 316 The position of Saturn.., its low density, and its nebulous rings.
1930 J. H. Jeans Universe around Us (ed. 2) iii. 169 We shall see later how the stars first come into being as condensations of nebulous gas.
1964 A. Nin Collages 59 His women became comets, trailing long nebulous trains, erratic members of the solar system.
1981 P. Davies Edge of Infinity (1983) viii. 151 Great clouds of hydrogen gas are slowly contracting under gravity and fragmenting to form huge glowing balls, shrouded in nebulous filaments.
4. That resembles or suggests a nebula or cloud; cloud-like.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > variegation > patch of colour > [adjective] > having cloudy markings
cloudy1676
clouded1682
nebulous1805
nebulose1826
random1874
1805 T. Weaver tr. A. G. Werner Treat. Fossils 71 Nebulous—Large and irregular spots, forming with the ground colour mixed colours, resembling clouds.
1838 J. Murray Econ. Vegetation 155 Some lichens..display concentric circles, and others exhibit nebulous images.
1858 H. W. Longfellow Sandalphon in Courtship of Miles Standish 214 Sandalphon the angel, expanding His pinions in nebulous bars.
1878 T. Hardy Return of Native III. v. viii. 221 She was enabled to avoid puddles by their nebulous paleness which signified their presence.
1897 B. Stoker Dracula iv. 45 There were some quaint little specks floating in the rays of the moonlight... They whirled round and gathered in clusters in a nebulous sort of way.
1986 R. A. Jamieson Thin Wealth iii. 147 Maas like hungry beggars at the heels of a rich man dived and swooped behind the plough in a nebulous cloud of white wings and ringing cries.
5. Vague, indistinct, formless, ill-defined.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > insecure knowledge, uncertainty > [adjective] > obscure, vague
cloudyc1400
indeterminatec1400
diffuse1430
diffused?1456
obscure?a1475
infinite1520
ambiguous1529
indistincta1530
nubilous1533
dark1557
undetermined1588
undefinite1589
undeterminate1603
indetermined1611
undefined1611
suspense1624
umbrageous1635
clouded1641
undeterminated1641
fuliginous1646
implicit1660
vague1690
diffusive1709
nubilose1730
foggy1737
unliquidated1780
hazy1781
indecisive1815
nebulous1817
penumbral1819
aoristic1846
scumbled1868
nubiform1873
out-of-focus1891
fuzzy1937
soft focus1938
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > obscurity > [adjective] > vague or inexplicit
oblique?a1475
overthwart1545
indirect1584
slenting1642
undeterminate1649
vaguea1661
wide1662
indeterminate1773
unexplicit1775
nebulose1799
imprecise1805
misty1816
nebulous1817
inexplicit1827
fuzzy1937
soft-focused1942
wifty-wafty1943
1817 J. Bentham Chrestomathia Pt. II 282 That wordy and cloudy pre-expounder of a nebulous original.
1834 T. Carlyle Sartor Resartus ii. ix. 70/1 Nebulous disquisitions on Religion.
1860 J. L. Motley Hist. Netherlands (1868) I. 24 The new-risen republic remained for a season nebulous.
1872 W. Black Strange Adventures Phaeton xi. 150 A sort of nebulous faith in the Crown and Constitution.
1915 A. Conan Doyle Valley of Fear ii. iv. 241 Cross-examined by the clever attorney who had been engaged by McGinty, they were even more nebulous in their evidence.
1937 J. Marquand Thank you, Mr. Moto xii. 78 I felt a keen awareness of danger for the next few minutes, a species of danger which was worse for being so entirely nebulous and unknown.
1967 E. Short Embroidery & Fabric Collage iv. 117 The..pseudo-medieval figure in the nebulous draped garment which is so often seen in church work.
1997 Independent 22 Dec. i. 4/2 When he describes what will boggle the minds of those venturing into the New Millennium Experience.., Bayley has an unfortunate habit of using nebulous expressions like ‘volumetrically bold’.
Compounds
nebulous star n. [compare French étoile nébuleuse (1642)] Astronomy (now historical) a small cluster of indistinct stars having the appearance of a single hazy star; (also) a star with a large gaseous atmosphere giving it a hazy appearance.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > star > [noun] > nebulous star
nebulous star1675
nebulose1719
the world > the universe > constellation > star-cluster > [noun] > nebula
nebulous star1675
nebula1718
nebulose1719
nebule1830
star cloud1839
1674 R. Hooke Attempt to prove Motion of Earth 6 A congeries of many Stars,..as those Stars which are called Nebulous.]
1675 E. Sherburne tr. M. Manilius Sphere 157 Galilaeo..reports, that he discovered in the Cloudy Star in Orion, no less than 21. others; in the Nebulous Star in the Praesepe, or Manger 36.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Star Those not reduced to Classes or Magnitudes, are call'd Nebulous Stars.
1801 Encycl. Brit. Suppl. II. 297/1 Through a moderate telescope, these nebulous stars plainly appear to be congeries or clusters of several little stars.
1892 Photogr. Ann. II. 116 Mr. Roberts in a photograph of this region..has failed to find any nebulosity or nebulous star.
1969 Jrnl. Brit. Astron. Assoc. 79 271 (Table) Nebulous stars and star-clusters.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > cosmology > science of observation > theory > [noun] > system of astronomy > specific
Newtonianism1814
Ptolemaism?1832
nebular hypothesis1833
nebular theory1846
Copernicanism1858
nebulous theory1860
nebula hypothesis1892
Velikovskyism1972
Velikovskianism1978
1860 Ld. Lytton Lucile ii. ii. §1. 134 Some mention Of the nebulous theory demands your attention; And so on.
Derivatives
ˈnebulously adv.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > insecure knowledge, uncertainty > [adverb] > obscurely
obscurelya1527
diffuselyc1530
infinitely1530
diffusedly1567
cloudily1651
shadowishlya1680
vaguely1781
nebulouslya1796
undefinably1796
undefinedly1827
hazily1830
a1796 R. Burns Compl. Wks. (1859) xxiii. 350 As the stars are, so are the Snobs:—the more you gaze upon those luminaries, the more you behold—now nebulously congregated—now faintly distinguishable.
1882 A. Beresford-Hope Brandreths III. xlii. 147 The ladies were nebulously suspecting a coming match.
1990 H. Silver Higher Educ. 100 The roles nebulously defined for the polytechnics could not be carried out..without public policies underpinned by finance.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.c1386