a cloudlike aggregation of minute globules of water suspended in the atmosphere at or near the earth's surface, reducing visibility to a lesser degree than fog.
a cloud of particles resembling this.
She sprayed a mist of perfume onto her handkerchief.
something that dims, obscures, or blurs.
the mist of ignorance.
a haze before the eyes that dims the vision.
a mist of tears.
a suspension of a liquid in a gas.
a drink of liquor served over cracked ice.
a fine spray produced by a vaporizer to add moisture to the air for breathing.
to become misty.
to rain in very fine drops; drizzle (usually used impersonally with it as subject).
It was misting when they went out for lunch.
to make misty.
to spray (plants) with a finely diffused jet of water, as a means of replacing lost moisture.
a thin fog resulting from condensation in the air near the earth's surface
meteorol such an atmospheric condition with a horizontal visibility of 1–2 kilometres
a fine spray of any liquid, such as that produced by an aerosol container
chem a colloidal suspension of a liquid in a gas
condensed water vapour on a surface that blurs the surface
something that causes haziness or lack of clarity, such as a film of tears
A mass of fine droplets of water in the atmosphere near or in contact with the Earth. Mist reduces visibility to not less than 1 km (0.62 mi).
Compare fog
What else does mist mean? Content warning: this article references illicit drugs. A mist is, literally speaking, a cloud of fine liquid droplets, but in slang it can variously refer to drugs and the experience of being on them. Mist can also be an alternative spelling or misspelling of missed.
See cloud.
First recorded before 900; (noun) Middle English, Old English; cognate with Dutch, Low German, Swedish mist; akin to Greek omíchlē “fog,” Russian mgla “mist,” Sanskrit megha “cloud”; (verb) Middle English misten, Old English mistian, derivative of the noun
From the Latin word mistūra
Mist is a very dense water vapor, almost as thick as fog. Light rain can sometimes form a mist that makes it hard to see the road when you're driving. The mist you see in the air on a damp spring morning is similar to the mist you spray when you water your plants — it's made up of tiny water droplets. As a verb, mist means "to cover with mist," so you might mist your dry plants or watch your windows mist up in the rain. Mist can also refer to a general dimness or cloudiness: "She watched through the mist of her tears."
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In Berlin, police deployed two water cannons to spray mist onto people.
From BBC • Jun. 27, 2026
Cleanse, tone, prime, moisturise, serum, eye cream, face mist, and repeat, as children - some of them of primary-school age - seek the Korean "glass skin" look.
From BBC • Jun. 6, 2026
After more than 1,300 died at the 2024 hajj, when temperatures soared past 50C, Saudi authorities ramped up anti-heat measures including giant fans, mist sprayers, cooled floors and trucks distributing drinking water.
From Barron's • May 27, 2026
Infection can occur when Legionella — which appears naturally in environments such as lakes and streams — gets into building water systems and people breathe in mist containing the bacteria, according to the U.S.
From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2026
Jack started to respond, then noticed that green mist was trickling out of the same crack that Merriweather had just escaped from.
From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
