fog

Fog forms when there’s a lot of water vapor low to the ground. It’s often found in valleys and near large bodies of water.

The word "fog" is a noun:

• There’s some fog over the lake.
• Fog can make driving dangerous.
• Fog often rolls in from a large lake or an ocean.

The word "foggy" is an adjective. It can be used to describe the condition of fog outside, but it’s also used to describe condensation that forms on mirrors and on glass:

• Sometimes my glasses get all foggy when I come inside on a cold day.
• The mirror in the bathroom gets foggy if you take a long, hot shower.
• London is well known for it’s foggy weather.
• It’s very foggy today.

Sometimes "fog" is used as a verb:

• The windshield on my car fogs up a lot in the winter if I leave my car outside.
• The front window of that store is all fogged up because the ventilation* is bad.

* ventilation: movement of air; the removal of moisture from the inside to the outside.

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This page was first published on February 4, 2012. It was updated on March 24, 2015.