nebulous

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 23, 2012 is: nebulous • \NEB-yuh-lus\  • adjective 1 : of, relating to, or resembling a nebula 2 : indistinct, vague Examples: Charlene's description of the film was so nebulous that I’m still not quite sure what it is about. "We just wish his business model wasn't so reliant on propping up a supposedly free market with huge infusions of tax dollars in return for comparatively meager, completely nebulous new jobs estimates." - From an editorial by Matthew Major in Public Opinion (Chambersburg, Pennsylvania), June 8, 2012 Did you know? "Nebulous" comes from the Latin word "nebulosus," meaning "misty," which in turn comes from "nebula," meaning "mist," "fog," or "cloud." In the 18th century, English speakers borrowed "nebula" and gave it a somewhat more specific meaning than the Latin version. In English, "nebula" refers to a cloud of gas or dust in deep space, or in less technical contexts, simply to a galaxy. "Nebulous" itself, when it doesn't have interstellar implications, usually means "cloudy" or "foggy" in a figurative sense. One's memory of a long-past event, for example, will often be nebulous; a teenager might give a nebulous recounting of an evening's events upon coming home; or a politician might make a campaign promise but give only a nebulous description of how he or she would fulfill it. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.