Home › Glossary › Letter M

mists

Noun
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Thin, hazy clouds of water vapor obscuring the landscape; evocative of mystery, soft atmosphere, and memory in romantic poetry.

Detailed Definition
Mist is common, but the plural mists can feel more literary and atmospheric, especially in older poetry. Here it suggests a veil of uncertainty or distance through which the beloved perceives the marriage.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Through the mists, the harbor bell kept finding us” uses literal vapor to obscure sight and create mood; Shakespeare’s “the fog and filthy air” shows how atmospheric obscurity can mirror moral uncertainty; “Mists of memory covered the names” makes the noun figurative, suggesting partial recall; In haiku-like writing, morning mists can slow perception and soften the boundary between landscape and dream
Additional Notes
“mists” is a simple word, but in this line it functions as a poetic, personified image that may still prompt a reader to pause.; Found in the poem, A Love Song by D. H. Lawrence
Also Known As
haze fog vapor shroud
Skip to main content