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nebulous

 - 3 dictionary results

neb⋅u⋅lous

[neb-yuh-luhs]
–adjective
1. hazy, vague, indistinct, or confused: a nebulous recollection of the meeting; a nebulous distinction between pride and conceit.
2. cloudy or cloudlike.
3. of or resembling a nebula or nebulae; nebular.

Origin:
1375–1425; late ME < L nebulōsus full of mist, foggy, cloudy. See nebula, -ous


neb⋅u⋅lous⋅ly, adverb
neb⋅u⋅lous⋅ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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neb·u·lous   (něb'yə-ləs)   
adj.  
  1. Cloudy, misty, or hazy.

  2. Lacking definite form or limits; vague: nebulous assurances of future cooperation.

  3. Of, relating to, or characteristic of a nebula.


[Middle English, from Latin nebulōsus, from nebula, cloud; see nebh- in Indo-European roots.]
neb'u·lous·ly adv., neb'u·lous·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

nebulous 
c.1386, "cloudy, misty," from L. nebulosus "cloudy, misty, foggy," from nebula (see nebula). The fig. sense of "hazy, vague, formless" is first attested 1831.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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