vaporous

American  

[vey-per-uhs] / ˈveɪ pər əs /

adjective

1. having the form or characteristics of vapor.

   a vaporous cloud.

2. full of or abounding in vapor; foggy; misty.

   a vaporous twilight.

3. producing or giving off vapor.

   a vaporous bog.

4. dimmed or obscured with vapor.

   a low valley surrounded by vaporous mountains.

5. unsubstantial; diaphanous; airy.

   vaporous fabrics; vaporous breezes.

6. vaguely formed, fanciful, or unreliable.

   vaporous promises.

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vaporous British  

/ ˈveɪpərəs, ˌveɪpəˈrɒsɪtɪ /

adjective

1. resembling or full of vapour

2. another word for vaporific

3. lacking permanence or substance; ephemeral or fanciful

4. given to foolish imaginings

5. dulled or obscured by an atmosphere of vapour

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Other Word Forms

• nonvaporosity noun
• nonvaporous adjective
• nonvaporously adverb
• nonvaporousness noun
• unvaporosity noun
• unvaporous adjective
• unvaporously adverb
• unvaporousness noun
• vaporosity noun
• vaporously adverb
• vaporousness noun

Etymology

Origin of vaporous

First recorded in 1520–30; vapor + -ous

Example Sentences

Movie scripts, like vexed suitors, struggle to pin down a vaporous lover.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 24, 2025

Hope needed a name and a shape, and what followed was anything but vaporous feelings.

From Slate • Jul. 31, 2024

"We let the biology do the harder job of converting information about vaporous chemicals into an electrical neural signal," Raman said.

From Science Daily • Jan. 26, 2024

Both photographs reveal an almost football-shaped cloud of smooth, vaporous material wrapped in sharper, wispy multicolored tendrils.

From Scientific American • Nov. 10, 2023

The Lares had formed shimmering purple lines against a mob of black, vaporous shades in ancient armor.

From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan