hazy

From earlier hawsey (1625), a nautical term of uncertain origin. Possibly from Middle English *hasi, *haswy, from Old English haswiġ (“grey; ashen; dusky”), from Old English hasu (“dusky; grey; ashen”), from Proto-Germanic *haswaz (“grey”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱeh₂s- (“bright grey”). By surface analysis, haze +‎ -y; although Modern English haze is more likely a back-formation of hazy.

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈheɪzi/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪzi

hazy (comparative hazier, superlative haziest)

1. Thick or obscured with haze.

   a hazy view of the polluted city street

2. Not clear or transparent.
   • 1939, American Review of Tuberculosis and Pulmonary Diseases, page 138:

     Furthermore, kymographic pictures are hazy and sometimes distorted, while the pictures obtained by diagraphy are sharp and unobstructed.

3. Obscure; confused; not clear.

   a hazy argument

   a hazy intellect

   • 1986 October 5, Phillip Lopate, “SEXUAL POLITICS, FAMILY SECRETS”, in The New York Times‎:

     If Philip seems less well drawn, "the character who is closest to the author is probably the haziest because the author is not able to see himself with the same clarity."

   • 2016 January 21, David Rees, “Letter of Recommendation: Sleep, ‘Dopesmoker’”, in The New York Times Magazine‎:

     The song’s first line is ‘‘Drop out of life with bong in hand,’’ and things only get hazier from there. ‘‘Dopesmoker’’ tells the story of a caravan of ‘‘weed-priests’’ traveling across the ‘‘sand-sea’’ in search of the ‘‘riff-filled land’’ so as to fulfill their ‘‘desert legion smoke-covenant.’’

• (thick with haze): hazed; see also Thesaurus:nebulous
• (not clear or transparent): blurry, fuzzy, ill-defined; see also Thesaurus:indistinct
• (obscure, confused): ambiguous, equivocal; see also Thesaurus:vague

• hazily
• haziness

hazy (plural hazies)

1. A variety of beer (typically a pale ale, India pale ale, or double India pale ale) golden in color with softer mouthfeel, and sweeter taste than its non-hazy counterpart.

   What hazies do you have on tap?

   • 2020 June 24, Molly Allen, “Hazy Beer 101: What Goes into That Instagrammable Pint”, in Sip Magazine‎, archived from the original on May 6, 2021:

     It's the craft beer style that has taken the brewing world, and the Internet, by storm. But what exactly is a hazy?

   • 2024, Liz Cook, “Why I Do Not Care What Beer Geeks Think About Hazy IPAs”, in Kansas City Magazine‎, archived from the original on June 19, 2024:

     Hazies are a softer, slinkier IPA that swap the pinecone sharpness of a West Coast IPA for bright citrus. I've heard some drinkers complain that they taste like orange juice—the cloudy appearance means hazies often look like orange juice, too.

• “hazy”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “hazy”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

• yazh