adjective
Usage
The noun mucus is often misspelled mucous . Mucous can only be correctly used as an adjective
Other Word Forms
- mucosity noun
- nonmucous adjective
- submucous adjective
Etymology
Origin of mucous
1640–50; < Latin mūcōsus slimy, mucous, equivalent to mūc ( us ) snot ( mucus ) + -ōsus -ous
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.
William, who Rona chirpily informs us has “a rare mucous membrane disorder,” is happy to get “lugubrious”: “Meaning extremely sad and droopy? A topic I am all too familiar with.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 24, 2025
Inhalation of selenium vapors may also cause dizziness, fatigue, irritation of the mucous membranes and respiratory effects.
From Los Angeles Times • May 4, 2025
Coming in second place was the orange roughy, a deep-sea fish in the slimehead family - known for the mucous canals on their heads.
From BBC • Mar. 19, 2025
It is produced by staphylococci, which are typical colonizers of the skin and mucous membranes.
From Science Daily • Apr. 29, 2024
His lung infection worsened, and he coughed up pus and mucous in fits that exhausted him.
From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow
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.
