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

However, Augusta is only vaguely present in the show after the first episode, a criminal underuse of Metcalf’s talent. —Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 3 Oct. 2025

During their searches, researchers encountered several vaguely familiar-looking frogs, the study said. —Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 3 Oct. 2025

That included all the vaguely reminiscent bands that were signed in their wake, as well as Island Records itself. —Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 30 Sep. 2025

Like in One Battle After Another, DiCaprio played buffoonish and vaguely incompetent, but Scorsese doesn’t weaponize his ignorance for laughs. —Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 26 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1663, in the meaning defined above