vaporous
/ˈveɪpəɹəs/
"vaporous" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“vaporous” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of or relating to vapour; also, having the characteristics or consistency of vapour.
Corpus desk
Index EN-vaporous · vaporous · English
vaporous · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "V" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | vaporous |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈveɪpəɹəs/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “vaporous” in English
Rare enough to double-check
vaporous is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈveɪpəɹəs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 7 senses are on record.
vaporous has no tracked misspelling variants, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: 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… The correct English form is vaporous, spelled V-A-P-O-R-O-U-S.
Definition
- 1Of or relating to vapour; also, having the characteristics or consistency of vapour.
- 2Breathing out or giving off vapour.
- 3Of a place: filled with vapour; foggy, misty.
- 4Of a thing: covered or hidden by vapour, fog, or mist.
- 5Lacking depth or substance; insubstantial, thoughtless, vague.
- 6Of clothes or fabric: thin and translucent; filmy, gauzy.
- 7Feeling melancholy; experiencing the vapors.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how vaporous appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Hovv can darkneſſe be called a Maſſe? &c. No it cannot. Nor a thin vaporous matter neither.
For the great rock has screened the westering sun / That still on plains beyond streams vaporous gold / Among the branches; […]
Etymology
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). The English word is analysable as vapour + -ous. Possibly a doublet of hope. Cognates * French vaporeux (“misty, vaporous; filmy, transparent”) * Italian vaporoso (“flimsy, gauzy; fluffy; vaporous”) * Portuguese vaporoso * Spanish vaporoso (“airy; vaporous”)
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.