vaguely

adverb

vague·​ly ˈvāg-lē 

: in a vague way: such as

a

: somewhat or slightly

He's vaguely familiar with the area.

… men on foot, dressed vaguely like janitors …

—A. L. Kennedy

b

: not clearly

There were grants, he explained vaguely, that had to be spent before the money went back to the federal government, so my main job was to buy lavish art books, as quickly as possible.

—Michael Blaine

Where once the city was a battleground for two main militias … now at least five militias claim vaguely defined pockets as their own.

—Jeffrey Bartholet

I've always believed closers are like girlfriends: You remember the great ones, you remember the awful ones and you vaguely remember everyone in between. (You could say the same about hockey goalies and field goal kickers.)

—Bill Simmons

Examples of vaguely in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The timeline for the troop deployment also is vaguely defined. —Konstantin Toropin, Chicago Tribune, 11 Aug. 2025

Those sorts of stunts—vaguely reckless, endearing, kind of funny—feel indicative of DeMarco’s general lack of interest in taking himself too seriously. —Amanda Petrusich, New Yorker, 11 Aug. 2025

Fogerty is deeply unimpressed with AI music, even as the fake-band likes of Velvet Sundown attempt a vaguely Creedence-like sound. —Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 11 Aug. 2025

His nickname for me, sometimes, is Ice Queen, which is vaguely offensive. —Jessica Radloff, Glamour, 8 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1663, in the meaning defined above