haze

¹ American  

[hayz] / heɪz /

noun

• hazes
  plural

1. an aggregation in the atmosphere of very fine, widely dispersed, solid or liquid particles, or both, giving the air an opalescent appearance that subdues colors.

2. vagueness or obscurity, as of the mind or perception; confused or vague thoughts, feelings, etc..

   The victims were still in a haze and couldn't describe the accident.

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verb (used with or without object)

hazed, hazing

1. to make or become hazy.

haze ² American  

[hayz] / heɪz /

verb (used with object)

hazed, hazing

1. to subject (freshmen, newcomers, etc.) to abusive or humiliating tricks and ridicule.

2. Chiefly Nautical. to harass with unnecessary or disagreeable tasks.

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haze ¹ British  

/ heɪz /

noun

1. meteorol

   1. reduced visibility in the air as a result of condensed water vapour, dust, etc, in the atmosphere

   2. the moisture or dust causing this

2. obscurity of perception, feeling, etc

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verb

1. to make or become hazy

haze ² British  

/ heɪz /

verb

1. to subject (fellow students) to ridicule or abuse

2. nautical to harass with humiliating tasks

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haze Idioms  

1. see in a fog (haze).

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Usage

What else does haze mean? Haze is a noun or adjective referring to a type of LSD (acid) or marijuana ... typically purple haze. Hazing, on the other hand, is an initiation ritual where people are subjected to all kinds of cruel and unusual tasks or humiliations.

Synonym Usage

See cloud.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• hazer
  noun
• hazeless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• hazes
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of haze¹

First recorded in 1700–10; perhaps noun use of unattested Middle English hase; Old English hasu, variant of haswa “ashen, dusky”; see hazy, hare

Origin of haze²

First recorded in 1670–80, haze is from the Middle French word haser to irritate, annoy

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Explanation

Haze is the fog or mist that's caused by small particles in the air. There is often a haze hovering over the city of Los Angeles. Although the noun haze can describe any kind of misty or slightly obscured air, it usually refers to visible air pollution, rather than just fog. You can also talk about being in a haze when you're confused or disoriented. When you hear haze being used as a verb, it usually means to torment a new, young recruit to a club, team, or group — the way fraternity brothers sometimes haze a new member, forcing him to perform humiliating or dangerous actions.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

haze hazes hazed hazing

The thrill comes from the squint — the desperate, reflexive need to make out something in the haze.

From Salon ● Oct. 28, 2026

Protester Sekar, 37, said her "heart is shattered" by the plight of compatriots battling months of wildfires and haze while also contending with the effects of a weakening currency and higher prices.

From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2026

The government has also warned that the haze could persist for several weeks given El Nino, Ong notes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026

The haze has prompted school closures in Malaysia and East Timor, and has drifted into Singapore and as far afield as the Philippines.

From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2026

But the sky is peeking through the thinning white haze overhead, in pale blue patches.

From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day

The new data matched the chemical signatures of a well-studied exoplanet called GJ 1214 b more accurately than previous research, demonstrating that hazes with different optical properties can lead to misinterpretations of a planet's atmosphere.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 27, 2023

"What we have always seen as blurred hazes in Jupiter's atmosphere now appear as crisp features that we can track along with the planet's fast rotation."

From Science Daily ● Oct. 20, 2023

Those hazes then venture into the dayside, and are vaporized in the heat.

From Scientific American ● Oct. 20, 2023

The dark spot is likely he result of mixing hazes and ices.

From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2023

Before them, as they turned west, gentle slopes ran down into dim hazes far below.

From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien

“Library lore suggests that decades ago, students employed to page collections in Houghton’s stacks were hazed by being asked to retrieve the book without being told it included human remains.”

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 30, 2024

Equally normal, as far as Perales was concerned, was a Detroit skyline hazed by the fume-spewing Marathon petroleum refinery.

From Scientific American ● Sep. 22, 2023

Colum McCann, Benjamin Kunkel, Prince Charles and Jean-Michel Basquiat were also hazed for moments of preposterousness.

From New York Times ● May 22, 2023

Because he didn’t join until the early ‘90s, keyboardist Rubén Valtierra is still considered the “new guy” in the band and gets hazed accordingly.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2022

Late in the afternoon, my mind hazed with fatigue.

From "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin

David Skorton, then-president of Cornell, vowed “to end pledging as we know it,” blaming fraternities’ and sororities’ recruitment process for perpetuating hazing rituals.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

National fraternities and many colleges and universities have sought to curb the worst excesses of fraternities by banning hazing, curbing drinking and instituting extensive workshops on consent for incoming first-year students.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

That is why preventing hazing requires more than prohibiting particular behavior or responding after the fact.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

The kitchen scenes are a combo platter of boot camp, frat house hazing ritual and kung fu movie.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

“Middle school is supposed to be the worst. It’s like a giant hazing for adulthood. We all gotta go through it.”

From "The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl" by Stacy McAnulty

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