vague

vague

adjective \ˈvāg\

vagu·ervagu·est

Definition of VAGUE

1

a : not clearly expressed : stated in indefinite terms <vague accusations>

b : not having a precise meaning <a vague term of abuse>

2

a : not clearly defined, grasped, or understood : indistinct <only a vague notion of what's needed>; also : slight <a vague hint of a thickening waistline> <hasn't the vaguest idea>

b : not clearly felt or sensed : somewhat subconscious <a vague longing>

3

: not thinking or expressing one's thoughts clearly or precisely <vague about dates and places>

4

: lacking expression : vacant <vague eyes> <a vague stare>

5

: not sharply outlined : hazy <met by vague figures with shaded torchlights — Earle Birney>

— vague·ly adverb

— vague·ness noun

Examples of VAGUE

1. The instructions she left were vague and difficult to follow.
2. He gave only a vague answer.
3. The judges determined that the law was too vague to be fairly enforced.
4. She has been vague about her plans for college.
5. We had only a vague idea of where we were.
6. I think I have a vague understanding of how it works.
7. He longed in some vague way for something different.
8. She felt a vague sense of uneasiness when she was around him.
9. I had the vague impression that they were withholding information.
10. We could just barely make out the vague outline of a plane in the sky.
11. When my three years of military service ended, I looked around for some way to get to spend time in rural Vietnam as a civilian. The driving force was still primarily intellectual curiosity, along with a desire to improve my language ability in a non-Western language and some vague idea of doing folkloristic or literary studies in the future. —Neil L. Jamieson, Understanding Vietnam, (1993) 1995
12. There are vague memories in our souls of those misty centuries when the world was in its childhood. —Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet, 1887
13. At the end of half an hour Tom had a vague general idea of his lesson, but no more, for his mind was traversing the whole field of human thought, and his hands were busy with distracting recreations. —Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer, 1876
14. It thrilled him with a vague uncertain horror, to know that behind the dusky shroud, there were ghostly eyes intently fixed upon him, while he, though he stretched his own to the utmost, could see nothing but a spectral hand and one great heap of black. —Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol, 1843

Origin of VAGUE

Middle French, from Latin vagus, literally, wandering

First Known Use: 1548

Related to VAGUE

Synonyms

fuzzy, indefinite, inexplicit, muzzy, unclear

Antonyms

clear, definite, explicit, specific

Related Words

ambiguous, cryptic, dark, enigmatic (also enigmatical), equivocal, murky, nebulous, obscure, unintelligible; bleary, blurry, dim, faint, foggy, gauzy, hazy, misty, woozy; indeterminate, indistinct, indistinguishable, uncertain, undefinable, undefined, undetermined; inexplicable, inscrutable, mysterious; baffling, bewildering, confounding, confusing, mystifying, obfuscatory, perplexing, puzzling, unfathomable

Near Antonyms

candid, direct, forthright, foursquare, frank, honest, open, openhearted, outspoken, plainspoken, straight, straightforward, unguarded; obvious, plain, unambiguous, understandable, unequivocal; comprehensible, fathomable, intelligible; defined, distinct, well-defined; blatant, patent, unmistakable

See Synonym Discussion at obscure

Rhymes with VAGUE

Haig, plague