nebulous
adjective
Josef WoodardW. R. LaFave & J. H. Israel
Did you know?
Nebulous may sound otherworldly—after all, it’s related to nebula, which refers to an interstellar cloud of gas or dust—but its mysteriousness is rooted in more earthly unknowns. Both words ultimately come from Latin nebula, meaning “mist, cloud,” and as far back as the 14th century nebulous could mean simply “cloudy” or “foggy.” Nebulous has since the late 17th century been the adjective correlating to nebula (as in “nebulous gas”), but the word is more familiar in its figurative use, where it describes things that are indistinct or vague, as when Teju Cole wrote of an avant-garde photographer who viewed photography as existing “neither in the camera nor in the printed photograph, but in a more nebulous zone.”
Examples of nebulous in a Sentence
New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 1 Apr. 2026
In the days immediately following its mid-January perihelion, its head was described as a diffused nebulous mass, but far more noteworthy was its tail, described as a pale narrow ribbon of light.
—Joe Rao, Space.com, 31 Mar. 2026
Your chatter zone lights up as the life-giving Sun conjoins nebulous Neptune, blending insight with curiosity for thoughtful conversations and local plans.
—Tarot.com, Sun Sentinel, 22 Mar. 2026
Proton’s Global Network Triumphs Server counts can be nebulous, and these figures can change daily.
—Justyn Newman, PC Magazine, 22 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for nebulous
Cite this Entry
“Nebulous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nebulous. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.
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nebulous
adjective
