smoggy

American  

[smog-ee, smaw-gee] / ˈsmɒg i, ˈsmɔ gi /

adjective

• smoggier,
  comparative
• smoggiest
  superlative

1. full of or characterized by smog.

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Other Word Forms

Adjective Inflected Forms

• smoggier
  comparative
• smoggiest
  superlative

Etymology

Origin of smoggy

First recorded in 1925–30; smog + -y ¹

Explanation

If something is smoggy, it's hazy with a smoky kind of fog. On a smoggy day, you can see the pollution in the air. Smoggy air is full of smog, a word that comes from combining smoke and fog. The term was invented in the early 1900s to describe an unfortunate weather phenomenon first noted in London, where "pea soup fog" was a serious problem for much of the 19th and 20th centuries. Today's smoggy cities get their smog from different sources—instead of coal fires, for example, smoggy pollution is mainly caused by cars.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

smoggy smoggier smoggiest

The cashier at the local Chopt admitted to me that foot traffic had slowed significantly this week, even before the smoggy conditions set in.

From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2026

“You’ve probably noticed that the air looks smoggy today—that’s the particulate matter,” Cohan, the Rice University professor, said via email that day.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026

Authorities once again issued an alert on Friday, a common occurrence on smoggy winter days, with cleaner air expected by Sunday.

From Barron's ● Jan. 23, 2026

On a recent smoggy morning, the hulking San Bernardino Mountains veiled by a gray-brown haze, Eric Lawson paused to offer his thoughts.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2025

The land is covered by a thick, smoggy haze.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

Despite increasingly warmer, smoggier summers, I rarely shed my shirt to run in just my sports bra.

From Salon ● Mar. 2, 2024

And now, in addition to pollution, regulators are contending with climate change, conditions scientists say could lead to a smoggier future.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 10, 2022

Bangalore now reminds him of the Silicon Valley, and Beijing and New Delhi are smoggier than anything he had ever encountered at home.

From Scientific American ● Mar. 17, 2014

On some days, and by some measures, Salt Lake City is smoggier than Beijing.

From Economist ● Jan. 30, 2014

When alone, the old smoggier said: "Now, speak out, young man!"

From The Dock Rats of New York by Halsey, Harlan Page

A midday local kickoff would put the game squarely in the hottest, smoggiest part of the day in a move that England fears would only enhance Mexico’s home-field advantage.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026

Despite decades of progress in reducing air pollution, Los Angeles is still the nation’s smoggiest city, according to a report released Wednesday by the American Lung Assn.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 2025

Yet, even despite its progress, Greater Los Angeles still is the nation’s smoggiest region — and that’s only one pollutant to keep in mind.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2023

They were checking to make sure villagers in Tangshan’s Fengrun district — one of China’s smoggiest spots — had quit burning coal for heat.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 3, 2021

Henan's Anyang, which ranked as China's smoggiest city in 2020, failed to meet a requirement to close 6.6 million tonnes of inefficient coking capacity last year, the ministry said.

From Reuters ● Jul. 16, 2021