smog

UK/smɒɡ/US/smɑɡ/

nounB1+Common in everyday speech and writing · #8,117 of 15,258neutral

Smog is dirty air where fog and pollution mix. Thick smog, a smog warning, choking smog.

The London smog of December 1952 killed thousands within days and led directly to the Clean Air Act. Modern photochemical smog is a different thing — sunlight acting on traffic fumes — and it is brown rather than grey. The word blends smoke and fog.

Definitions of smog

1nounsmogDirty air where fog and pollution mix.B1+
“A thick smog hung over the city, and people wore masks to go outside.”

smog is polluted air.

Where it comes from

A blend of smoke and fog, coined in the early twentieth century for the air of industrial cities.

smoke and fog.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Weather & Seasons

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smog in the wild

The developing smog is toxic to humans and can cause severe sickness, a shortened life span, or premature death.
Smog
The smog caused major disruption by reducing visibility and even penetrating indoor areas, far more severely than previous smog events, called "pea-soupers".
Great Smog of London
After serving as an original board member of the Motor Vehicle Pollution Control Board, formed in 1960 to combat the smog, Dr.
Arie Jan Haagen-Smit
Chronic exposure to smog of this intensity can be lethal to vulnerable people such as the elderly, infants, and those with respiratory problems.
Pea soup fog
The 1966 New York City smog was a major air-pollution episode and environmental disaster, coinciding with that year's Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
1966 New York City smog

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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