Entry Word: loose

Function: adjective

Meaning: 1 not tightly fastened, tied, or stretched <secure your neckerchief with a loose knot>

Synonyms insecure, lax, loosened, relaxed, slack, slackened, unsecured

Related Words detached, free, unattached, unbound, undone, unfastened, untied; baggy; nonrestrictive

Near Antonyms constrained, restrained; attached, bound, fastened, tied

Antonyms taut, tense, tight

2 consisting of particles that do not stick together <the car wheels slipped on the loose gravel in the driveway>

Synonyms incoherent, unconsolidated

Related Words nonadhesive; disconnected, disjointed, separate, unconnected; coarse, granular, rough

Near Antonyms connected, solid; compacted, compressed; adhesive, gluey, sticky

Antonyms coherent, compact, dense, packed

3 not bound by rigid standards <we were given some loose guidelines for our science projects> — see easygoing 2
4 not bound, confined, or detained by force <there was a brief panic when the lion got loose from its cage at the zoo> — see free 3
5 not precisely correct <a loose guess about the size of the crowd> — see inexact 1