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Vague Common

Vague has 6 different meanings across 1 category:

Adjective

Definitions
Noun
1

A wandering; a vagary.

"The sudden and vague decision to move abroad caught everyone off guard."

Verb
1

to wander; to roam; to stray.

"The deer would often leave its herd to vague around the forest edge in search of fresh grass."

In plain English: To make something vague is to describe it so poorly that people cannot clearly see what you mean.

"The old man vaguely remembered seeing a blue car parked outside last night."

Adjective
1

not clearly expressed or understood

"an obscure turn of phrase"

"an impulse to go off and fight certain obscure battles of his own spirit"

"their descriptions of human behavior become vague, dull, and unclear"

"vague...forms of speech...have so long passed for mysteries of science"

2

not precisely limited, determined, or distinguished

"an undefined term"

"undefined authority"

"some undefined sense of excitement"

"vague feelings of sadness"

"a vague uneasiness"

3

lacking clarity or distinctness

"a dim figure in the distance"

"only a faint recollection"

"shadowy figures in the gloom"

"saw a vague outline of a building through the fog"

"a few wispy memories of childhood"

4

Not clearly expressed; stated in indefinite terms.

"The witness gave a vague description of the suspect, mentioning only that he was tall and wearing a dark jacket."

In plain English: Vague means being unclear about something so that it is hard to know exactly what you are talking about.

"The instructions were so vague that I didn't know how to assemble the furniture."

Usage: Use "vague" to describe ideas or statements that lack clarity, but avoid using it when you simply mean something is imprecise or approximate without negative connotation. In formal contexts, consider replacing "vague" with terms like "indistinct" or "undefined" for a more precise tone.

Example Sentences
"The instructions were so vague that I didn't know how to assemble the furniture." adj
"The witness gave a very vague description of the suspect's face." adj
"Her plans for the weekend remain somewhat vague until tomorrow." adj
"The instructions on the package were too vague to follow easily." adj
"The old man vaguely remembered seeing a blue car parked outside last night." verb
Related Terms
Antonyms

Origin

The word vague comes from the Latin vagus, which originally meant wandering or rambling. Over time, this sense of moving without a fixed path evolved to mean uncertain or not clearly defined.

Rhyming Words
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