Both Uses of
nebulous
in
Invisible Man, by Ellison
- It was a most painful position, for at the same time, Mary reminded me constantly that something was expected of me, some act of leadership, some newsworthy achievement; and I was torn between resenting her for it and loving her for the nebulous hope she kept alive.†
Chpt 12 *
- Something, perhaps, like a man passing on to his son his own father's watch, which the son accepted not because he wanted the old-fashioned time-piece for itself, but because of the overtones of unstated seriousness and solemnity of the paternal gesture which at once joined him with his ancestors, marked a high point of his present, and promised a concreteness to his nebulous and chaotic future.†
Chpt 18
Definitions:
-
(1)
(nebulous) unclear or lacking definite form
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Specialized meanings of nebulous can refer to characteristics of a nebula which can refer to- an immense cloud of gas and dust in interstellar space
- a faint cloudy spot on the cornea
- cloudiness of the urine
- a medicinal liquid preparation intended for use in an atomizer