smoggy

American  

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

adjective

smoggier, smoggiest

1. full of or characterized by smog.

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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

The notoriously smoggy air of Mexico City has gotten much clearer.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 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

With days of more pollutants building up close to the ground, then the smoggy layer became toxic and very dense.

From BBC • Dec. 5, 2023

But, on smoggy summer days, when the majestic vista of the Santa Monica Mountains looks like a half-developed photograph, it proves we still have a ways to go.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 17, 2023

They call this part of California the Inland Empire, and it’s always smoggy, because whatever nastiness is in the air gets blown here and caught against the mountains.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman