NEBULOUS

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does nebulous mean? 

• NEBULOUS (adjective)
  The adjective NEBULOUS has 3 senses:

1. lacking definite form or limits

2. of or relating to or resembling a nebula

3. lacking definition or definite content

  Familiarity information: NEBULOUS used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• NEBULOUS (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Lacking definite form or limits

Synonyms:

cloudy; nebulose; nebulous

Context example:

nebulous distinction between pride and conceit

Similar:

indistinct (not clearly defined or easy to perceive or understand)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Of or relating to or resembling a nebula

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Synonyms:

nebular; nebulous

Context example:

the nebular hypothesis of the origin of the solar system

Domain category:

astronomy; uranology (the branch of physics that studies celestial bodies and the universe as a whole)

Pertainym:

nebula (an immense cloud of gas (mainly hydrogen) and dust in interstellar space)

Derivation:

nebula (an immense cloud of gas (mainly hydrogen) and dust in interstellar space)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Lacking definition or definite content

Synonyms:

nebulous; unfixed

Context example:

unfixed as were her general notions of what men ought to be

Similar:

indefinite (vague or not clearly defined or stated)

 Context examples 

But this possession of her was dim and nebulous and totally different from possession as he had known it.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

They were like the tiniest grains of dust, and they whirled round and gathered in clusters in a nebulous sort of way.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

There was much that was dim and nebulous in that world, but he saw it as a whole and not in detail, and he saw, also, the way to master it.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

He went out of the room calling "Ewing!" and returned in a few minutes accompanied by an embarrassed, slightly worn young man with shell-rimmed glasses and scanty blonde hair. He was now decently clothed in a "sport shirt" open at the neck, sneakers and duck trousers of a nebulous hue.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)