haze

A haze is a light, transparent filter that causes images to look slightly fuzzy and not clear.

• There’s a haze in the sky today.
• The haze was created by a wildfire.
• Morning fog creates a light haze.
• A smoke machine created a haze inside the nightclub.
• Smoking of cigarettes creates a haze inside a nightclub that permits smoking.
• My head is in a bit of a haze this morning. (I’m feeling a little dizzy and I’m unable to think clearly.)

The sky looks hazy.

The word "hazy" is an adjective:

• The inside of the club suddenly became hazy as it filled with people.
• My memory of that evening is kind of hazy.
• Sheila has a hazy memory of something that happened at work a few weeks ago.
• Some medications can make a person feel hazy and light-headed.

The word "haze" is also used to describe a ritual of bringing new members into an exclusive group. This is generally discouraged nowadays–although it is still practiced–because the hazing often involves physical and mental cruelty.

• Tom was hazed when he tried to join a fraternity at his college.
• Christine was hazed by other members of the volleyball team when she joined the team last year.
• There was a hazing incident which resulted in the death of a young man at the school.
• Our school prohibits hazing.

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July 14, 2019