foggy

American  

[fog-ee, faw-gee] / ˈfɒg i, ˈfɔ gi /

adjective

foggier, foggiest

1. thick with or having much fog; misty.

   a foggy valley;

   a foggy spring day.

2. covered or enveloped as if with fog.

   a foggy mirror.

3. (of thinking, ideas, etc.) dim or unclear as if obscured by fog; vague.

   I haven't the foggiest notion of where she went.

   Synonyms:

   muddleheaded, muddled, fuzzy, befuddled

4. bewildered; confused.

   Difficulties with memory, concentration, attention, and fatigue left me feeling foggy and muddled much of the time.

5. Photography. affected by fog.

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foggy British  

/ ˈfɒɡɪ /

adjective

1. thick with fog

2. obscure or confused

3. another word for fogged

4. no idea whatsoever

   I haven't the foggiest

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Other Word Forms

• foggily adverb
• fogginess noun
• unfoggy adjective

Etymology

Origin of foggy

First recorded in 1520–30; fog ² + -y ¹; original sense was “marshy, thick, murky”

Explanation

Something that's foggy is cloudy or murky, filled with fog. A foggy view is blurred and indistinct, just like a foggy mind. Driving on a foggy road can be tricky, since it's more or less like driving inside a cloud. When the inside of your head feels this way — blurry, clouded, and vague — you can also used foggy in a figurative way: "Her memory grew foggy as the years went by." Experts aren't sure whether foggy or fog came first, but in either case they suspect a Scandinavian root.

Example Sentences

Death Valley on Thursday scorched in 40C degrees while the often cool and foggy San Francisco tied its historic March record at 29C degrees, and skiers in Colorado were hitting the slopes shirtless.

From Barron's • Mar. 20, 2026

Between bands of rain there will be quieter weather which brings the risk of one or two chilly or foggy nights.

From BBC • Mar. 4, 2026

After making 11 changes for the League Cup quarter-final win at third-tier Cardiff on Tuesday, Maresca reverted to his senior stars, but they made a dismal start on foggy Tyneside.

From Barron's • Dec. 20, 2025

But something clicked on the third day as she sat, a steaming mug of coffee in hand, on a small whale-watching boat motoring across the foggy Clayoquot Sound.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 10, 2025

It was still early, and it was still foggy, and Roz was halfway through the village before anyone saw her.

From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown

Related Words

• cloudy
• fuzzy
• misty
• murky
• soupy
• vague