vaporous

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English

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Etymology

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From Middle English vaporous, from Late Latin vapōrōsus (full of steam), from Latin vapor (exhalation; smoke; steam, vapour) (possibly related to Proto-Indo-European *kwep- (to boil; to smoke, steam; aroma; strong odour)) + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of, overly, prone to’ forming adjectives from nouns).[1] The English word is analysable as vapour +‎ -ous. Possibly a doublet of hope.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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vaporous (comparative more vaporous, superlative most vaporous)

  1. Of or relating to vapour; also, having the characteristics or consistency of vapour.
    Synonyms: (obsolete) halitous, (obsolete) halituous, vaporiform, vaporlike, vapourlike, (obsolete) vaporose, vapory, vapoury; see also Thesaurus:gaseous
    Antonym: nonvaporous
    • 1651, Alazonomastix Philalethes [pseudonym; Henry More], “Sect[ion] VII”, in The Second Lash of Alazonomastix; Conteining a Solid and Serious Reply to a Very Uncivill Answer to Certain Observations upon Anthroposophia Theomagica, and Anima Magica Abscondita, London: [] J[ames] Flesher, published 1655, →OCLC, observation 24, page 234:
      Hovv can darkneſſe be called a Maſſe? &c. No it cannot. Nor a thin vaporous matter neither.
    • 1868, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], “Book I”, in The Spanish Gypsy: A Poem, Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, page 50:
      For the great rock has screened the westering sun / That still on plains beyond streams vaporous gold / Among the branches; []
    • 1894, Ivan Dexter, “Talmud: A Strange Narrative of Central Australia. Founded on Natural Facts. Chapter XIV. A Mountain Tragedy.”, in Port Adelaide News and Lefevre’s Peninsula Advertiser, Adelaide, S.A.: Port Adelaide Newspaper and Printing Company, →OCLC; republished as Talmud: A Strange Narrative of Central Australia (eBook no. 1600641.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, May 2016:
      The wind began to rise and soon the vapourous mist began to eddy and whirl in wild confusion.
  2. Breathing out or giving off vapour.
    Synonyms: (rare) vaporescent, (rare) vapourescent
  3. Of a place: filled with vapour; foggy, misty.
    Synonyms: fumid, (rare) vapored, (rare) vapoured, (rare) vaporiferous, vaporsome
  4. Of a thing: covered or hidden by vapour, fog, or mist.
    • 1818, John Keats, “Book II”, in Endymion: A Poetic Romance, London: [] T[homas] Miller, [] for Taylor and Hessey, [], →OCLC, page 54, lines 16–21:
      Wide sea, that one continuous murmur breeds / Along the pebbled shore of memory! / Many old rotten-timber'd boats there be / Upon thy vaporous bosom, magnified / To goodly vessels; many a sail of pride, / And golden keel'd, is left unlaunch'd and dry.
  5. (figuratively)
    1. Lacking depth or substance; insubstantial, thoughtless, vague.
      Synonyms: frothy, vain, vaporsome
    2. Of clothes or fabric: thin and translucent; filmy, gauzy.
  6. Feeling melancholy; experiencing the vapors.
    • 1979, Ernest Samuels, Bernard Berenson: The Making of a Connoisseur, page 228:
      The task at first daunted him, and he wailed to Mary that he could not write about the Florentines because he no longer enjoyed them as a school. Again Mary rescued him from his vaporous mood, and the two of them vigorously plunged into the new work.

Alternative forms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Compare vaporous, adj.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2021; vaporous, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

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