Wisps

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A thin, delicate strand or thread often floating freely; a small, light puff or cloud, resembling smoke or vapor; a diminutive and fleeting shape that suggests something ethereal or insubstantial
2. Filaments or threads that are slender and airy, frequently carried by the wind; fleeting, airy bursts that resemble fine clouds or smoke; ephemeral shapes that evoke a sense of lightness and evanescence
3. Delicate strands or fibers that drift lightly through the air; ephemeral and ethereal formations resembling vapor or smoke; subtle, light impressions that capture transience and fragility

Etymology: "Wisps" is the plural of "wisp," and the singular's oldest sense was physical and practical: a bundle of hay or straw. Middle English had forms like "wispe," "wyspe," and "wips," which probably descend from an Old English word that no written record preserves. Its closest relatives keep that original meaning alive. Dutch "wisp" still means a bundle of hay or straw, and Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish cousins refer to a handful of grass or hay. A related Middle Dutch and Middle Low German word, "wispel," even measured grain. The leap from a tied bundle of straw to a floating thread or faint puff of smoke makes sense once you picture the bundle's loose, feathery ends pulling apart. The English sense of something light, thin, and drifting grew out of that image of a small, loose tuft, and the modern meaning of an ethereal, insubstantial shape extended it further.

Synonyms: strands, threads, fluffs, tufts, puffs