foggy
English
Etymology
From fog + -y, originally in the sense "covered with tall grass; marshy; thick".[1] It is not clear whether fog (“mist”) is a back-formation from foggy (“covered with tall, obscuring grass”)[2] or has a separate Germanic origin,[3] and hence whether foggy (“covered with tall grass”) and foggy (“obscured by mist”) represent one word or two. See fog ("mist"; "tall grass") for more.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈfɒɡi/
Audio (Southern England) (file) - Rhymes: -ɒɡi
Adjective
foggy (comparative foggier, superlative foggiest)
- Obscured by mist or fog; unclear; hazy
- (figuratively) Confused, befuddled, etc.
- He was still foggy with sleep.
- 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter VI:
- If she knew [a psychiatrist was] observing her son with a view to finding out if he was foggy between the ears, there would be umbrage on her part, or even dudgeon.
- Being, covered with, or pertaining to fog (“tall grass etc that grows after, or is left after, cutting; moss”)
- 1680, Leonard Mascall, The government of cattel. Divided into three books, etc, page 221:
- For they will feed on foggy grass and such like. Also ye shall understand that horses and Cattel may not well be foddered in Winter all together, but […]
- 1772, William Ellis, Husbandry, abriged, page 98:
- […] for as he shuts up his meadow at Christmas, leaves such foggy grass behind, and manures well, in case a wet hot summer succeeds, […]
- 1808, John Stagg, Miscellaneous Poems, Some of which are in the Cumberland and Scottish Dialects, page 143:
- See swingin' owr the foggy swaird, Begrac'd wi' angel features, […]
- 1680, Leonard Mascall, The government of cattel. Divided into three books, etc, page 221:
Derived terms
- fogginess
- Foggy Bottom
Translations
obscured by mist or fog
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confused
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References
- “foggy”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
- “fog”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
- Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “foggy”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.