Meanings
misty1
comparative mistier · superlative mistiest
- figurativelyDim; vague; obscure.
a misty memory of his childhood
3 more examples
My remembrances of the place and its people are misty — all about it seem more like something I once saw in a dream, but whose characters time has effaced.
1861, E. J. Guerin, Mountain Charley, page 10Mr. Motian's own tunes, folk-simple locomotions of straight melody, fast or slow, with acres of room for interpretation, have accounted for some of the mistier sets.
2005 February 7, Ben Ratliff, “New CD's”, in The New York TimesBut she soon found out how little equipped she was for college study. Not only was Ms. Segovia’s English rocky, but she had only the mistiest notions of what college was all about.
2010 July 23, Joseph Berger, “The Latino Lag”, in The New York Times - figurativelyWith tears in the eyes; dewy-eyed.
Her eyes grew misty the night her long-time friend passed away.
Misty2
plural Mistys
- A female given name from English, reasonably popular in the 1970s and the 1980s.
- A diminutive of the female given name Melissa.
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivewet with mist
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
misty · adjective
- Proto-West Germanic*mistig“misty”
- Old Englishmistiġ“misty, dark”
- Middle Englishmisty
- Englishmisty
From Middle English misty, mysty, misti, from Old English mistiġ (“misty, dark”), from Proto-West Germanic *mistig (“misty”), equivalent to mist + -y. Cognate with Scots misty, mistie (“misty”), West Frisian mistich (“misty, foggy”), Dutch mistig (“misty, foggy”), German Low German mistig (“foggy”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Misty · proper noun
From the adjective misty, but sometimes also (like Missy) used as a nickname for Melissa.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian мъглив, замъглен
- мъглив (măgliv)with mist; foggy
- замъглен (zamăglen)with mist; foggy
- насълзен (nasălzen)with tears in the eyes
Catalan boirós, bromós
- boiróswith mist; foggy
- bromóswith mist; foggy
- neulóswith mist; foggy
Dutch mistig, waterig
- mistigwith mist; foggy
- waterigwith tears in the eyes
Esperanto nebula, larmokula
- nebulawith mist; foggy
- larmokulawith tears in the eyes
Finnish usvainen, sumuinen
- usvainenwith mist; foggy
- sumuinenwith mist; foggy
French brumeux
- brumeuxwith mist; foggy
Icelandic mistraður, móðuhulinn
- mistraðurwith mist; foggy
- móðuhulinnwith mist; foggy
- társtokkinnwith tears in the eyes
Irish ceoch, ceomhar
- ceochwith mist; foggy
- ceomharwith mist; foggy
Italian con foschia, nebbioso
- con foschiawith mist; foggy
- nebbiosowith mist; foggy
- velatowith tears in the eyes
Japanese 霞み
- 霞み (kasumi)with mist; foggy
Latin nebulōsus
- nebulōsuswith mist; foggy
Māori ānehu, pūkohukohu
- ānehuwith mist; foggy
- pūkohukohuwith mist; foggy
- uwhangowith mist; foggy
- kōehuehuwith mist; foggy
- toriwaiwith tears in the eyes
- tōwahiwahiwith tears in the eyes
- tōwāwahiwith tears in the eyes
- matawaiwith tears in the eyes
Polish mglisty
- mglistywith mist; foggy
Portuguese nublado, enevoado
- nubladowith mist; foggy
- enevoadowith mist; foggy
- marejadowith tears in the eyes
Russian мгли́стый, тума́нный
- мгли́стый (mglístyj)with mist; foggy
- тума́нный (tumánnyj)with mist; foggy
Scottish Gaelic ceòthach
- ceòthachwith mist; foggy
Spanish con neblina, neblinoso
- con neblinawith mist; foggy
- neblinosowith mist; foggy
- emboriadowith mist; foggy
- llorosowith tears in the eyes
- sentimentalwith tears in the eyes
Ukrainian імлистий
- імлистий (imlystyj)with mist; foggy
Welsh niwlog
- niwlogwith mist; foggy
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with misty
All rhymes →Cite this entry
misty. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/misty
“misty.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/misty. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “misty,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/misty.
Source: misty on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.