adjective
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consisting of or resembling mist
-
obscured by or as if by mist
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indistinct; blurred
the misty past
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of misty
before 900; Middle English; Old English mistig. See mist, -y 1
Explanation
When it's misty out, there's a heavy fog. The air is thick with moisture, and there's just barely a light rain. When the air is foggy or hazy, you've got a misty situation. It isn't easy to see through misty weather, which happens most often in the morning because of moisture in the air. Your eyes can get misty too, when you're about to cry because you're sad or just have allergies. In fact, people who are embarrassed about crying will often joke, "It's getting misty in here."
Vocabulary lists containing misty
Beowulf vocabulary
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -y
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A striking new pitviper with a vivid grass-green body and amber-like eyes has been discovered in the misty mountains of western Sichuan, China.
From Science Daily • Apr. 22, 2026
On a misty winter's day in the English midlands, engineers struggled to drag stranded narrowboats from a waterless, mud-filled canal that collapsed weeks earlier, in a delicate, multi-million-pound rescue operation.
From Barron's • Feb. 11, 2026
Tehreem's visit to Greenwich was "misty and slightly rainy", but she didn't care.
From BBC • Feb. 6, 2026
Today, over half a century later, it’s gray and misty and I’m feeling reflective.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 11, 2025
As he came close to me, I saw his eyes were red and misty.
From "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok
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.
