adumbrantadj.
/aˈdʌmbr(ə)nt/, U.S. /æˈdəmbr(ə)n(t)/, /əˈdəmbr(ə)n(t)/ Now rare.
Casting shadows; shadowy, shady. In extended use: represented in outline; vague, indistinct.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > invisibility > [adjective] > indistinct
dimc1000
blinda1398
undistingued1398
obscure?a1450
undistinct1495
shadowed1588
undistinguishable1600
shady1626
blear1637
filmed1637
indistinguishable1642
crepusculous1646
adumbrated1650
oblite1650
faint1660
monogrammous1678
blurred1701
faintish1712
wispya1717
adumbrant1727
muzzy1744
indistinct1764
fuzzy1778
misty1797
shadowy1797
undistinguished1814
woolly1815
vague1822
furzy1825
mystified1833
slurred1843
feeble1860
smudginga1861
filmy1864
smudgy1865
blurry1884
slurry1937
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > intercepting or cutting off of light > [adjective] > casting a shadow
adumbrant1727
shadow-casting1859
1727 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. II Adumbrant, shadowing.
1765 W. Stevenson Orig. Poems I. 142 The hill-rais'd cedar, of superiour size, Mounts in adumbrant verdure to the skies.
1833 Tait's Edinb. Mag. June 306 Alas! it is only a picture,—a mere adumbrant outline, filled up by fancy, and coloured by exaggeration.
1886 Railway Conductor's Monthly Feb. 90 In the soft adumbrant meshes of sieved silver, the sunbeams melted through the leaves.
1905 Lamp Jan. 614/2 The room was small... To say it was dismal, would only give an adumbrant idea of its cheerlessness.
1935 Sewanee Rev. 43 197 Are the little white crosses adumbrant; the shadowy names but faint memories?
1983 Amer. Art Jrnl. 14 72/2 The remains of a still-life can be just barely seen at upper right and an adumbrant hand holding a book at lower left.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2011; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.1727