stratus
Americannoun
noun
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A diffuse, grayish cloud that often produces drizzle and is formed primarily in altitudes no higher than 2,000 m (6,560 ft). A stratus cloud close to the ground or water is called fog.
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See illustration at cloud
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of stratus
1795–1805; < Latin strātus; see stratum
Explanation
A low, flat cloud is called a stratus. When the sky is full of stratus clouds, it can make the day feel gray and dull. Stratus can be used as a noun or an adjective: "I can't see the moon—there are too many stratus clouds tonight." Strati are characterized by their dense haziness. They are basically fog that sits low in the atmosphere, occasionally releasing small amounts of rain or snow. Sometimes they're called "high fog." In Latin, stratus means "a spreading."
Vocabulary lists containing stratus
Weather and Climate - Introductory
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Weather and Climate - Middle School
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Earth Science - Middle School
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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.
Hudson said the coronavirus subvariant XFG, nicknamed Stratus, accounts for the vast majority of variants seen in wastewater.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 26, 2025
Getting into the same industry as Stratus, a seven-time WWE Women's Champion and one of the promotion's all-time greats, had seemed impossible for Shaw.
From BBC • Mar. 15, 2023
Williams told police that he felt dizzy after the crash and wanted to wait in his Dodge Stratus until help arrived, the court papers state.
From Washington Post • Dec. 15, 2022
Ms. Grogan’s nephew Sam Brownell, a chartered financial analyst with Stratus Wealth Advisors in Kensington, Md., walked her through a number of software-driven cash-flow scenarios involving Social Security.
From New York Times • Oct. 21, 2022
The Stratus, from its spreading out horizontally in a continuous layer, and increasing from below.
From The Rain Cloud or, An Account of the Nature, Properties, Dangers and Uses of Rain in Various Parts of the World by Tomlinson, Charles
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.
