vague

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Related to vaguer: vagary

vague

 (vāg)
adj. vagu·er, vagu·est
1. Not clear in meaning or expression; inexplicit. See Synonyms at ambiguous.
2. Not thinking or expressing oneself clearly: "Most of us are quite vague about the theoretical underpinnings of the medical theories that guide our doctors" (Kwame Anthony Appiah).
3. Lacking definite shape, form, or character; indistinct: saw a vague outline of a building through the fog.
4. Indistinctly felt, perceived, understood, or recalled; hazy: a vague uneasiness.

[French, from Old French, wandering, from Latin vagus.]

vague′ly adv.
vague′ness n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

vague

(veɪɡ)
adj
1. (of statements, meaning, etc) not explicit; imprecise: vague promises.
2. not clearly perceptible or discernible; indistinct: a vague idea; a vague shape.
3. not clearly or definitely established or known: a vague rumour.
4. (of a person or his expression) demonstrating lack of precision or clear thinking; absent-minded
[C16: via French from Latin vagus wandering, of obscure origin]
ˈvaguely adv
ˈvagueness n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

vague

(veɪg)

adj. va•guer, va•guest.
1. not clearly or explicitly stated or expressed: vague promises.
2. indefinite or indistinct in nature or character, as ideas or feelings: a vague premonition of disaster.
3. not clearly perceptible: vague murmurs.
4. not definitely established, determined, confirmed, or known: a vague rumor.
5. (of persons) not clear or definite in thought, understanding, or expression.
6. showing lack of clear perception or understanding: a vague stare.
[1540–50; (< Middle French) < Latin vagus wandering]
vague′ly, adv.
vague′ness, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adj.1.vague - not clearly understood or expressed; "an obscure turn of phrase"; "an impulse to go off and fight certain obscure battles of his own spirit"-Anatole Broyard; "their descriptions of human behavior become vague, dull, and unclear"- P.A.Sorokin; "vague...forms of speech...have so long passed for mysteries of science"- John Locke
unclear - not clear to the mind; "the law itself was unclear on that point"; "the reason for their actions is unclear to this day"
2.vague - not precisely limited, determined, or distinguishedvague - not precisely limited, determined, or distinguished; "an undefined term"; "undefined authority"; "some undefined sense of excitement"; "vague feelings of sadness"; "a vague uneasiness"
indefinite - vague or not clearly defined or stated; "must you be so indefinite?"; "amorphous blots of color having vague and indefinite edges"; "he would not answer so indefinite a proposal"
3.vague - 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"
indistinct - not clearly defined or easy to perceive or understand; "indistinct shapes in the gloom"; "an indistinct memory"; "only indistinct notions of what to do"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

vague

adjective
5. indefinite, uncertain, undecided, unconfirmed, pending, speculative, unresolved, indeterminate, yet to be decided the team's vague plans to start up a regular magazine
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

vague

adjective
1. Liable to more than one interpretation:
2. Not clearly perceived or perceptible:
3. Marked by lack of firm decision or commitment; of questionable outcome:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
غَيْر دَقيق، غَيْر عَمَليغَيْر واضِح، مُبْهَممُبْهَم
matnýnejistýneurčitývágní
vagsvævendeupræcis
epämääräinen
nejasan
óljós, óskÿrómarkviss, óákveîinn
曖昧な
막연한
nekonkretus
izklaidīgsnenoteiktsneprecīzsneskaidrs
nejasen
vag
คลุมเครือ
belirsizdalgınkafası dağınıkaçık seçik olmayan
không rõ ràng

vague

[veɪg] ADJ (vaguer (compar) (vaguest (superl)))
1. (= imprecise) [concept] → impreciso, vago; [description] → impreciso; [outline] → borroso; [feeling] → indefinido, indeterminado; [person] (in giving details etc) → impreciso; (by nature) → de ideas poco precisas
the outlook is somewhat vagueel futuro es algo incierto
there have been vague hints of a reconciliationha habido ligeros atisbos de reconciliación
my memories of that time are very vaguemis recuerdos de aquella época son muy vagos, aquella época la recuerdo muy vagamente
the vague outline of a shipel perfil borroso de un buque
he made some vague promiseshacía promesas, pero sin concretar
I haven't the vaguest ideano tengo la más remota idea
he was vague about the dateno quiso precisar la fecha
you mustn't be so vaguehay que decir las cosas con claridad, hay que concretar
I'm a bit vague on that subjectsé poco en concreto sobre ese tema
then he went all vagueluego comenzó a decir vaguedades
2. (= absent-minded) [person] → despistado, distraído; [expression, look] → ausente
he's terribly vaguetiene un tremendo despiste, es un despistado
to look vaguetener aire distraído
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

vague

[ˈveɪg] adj
(= not precise) [description, information, instructions, promises] → vague often before n
She gave very vague instructions → Elle a donné de très vagues instructions.
(= faint) [memory] → vague before n; [impression, idea] → vague before n
I haven't the vaguest idea → je n'en ai pas la moindre idée
(= evasive) [person] → vague
He was very vague about how this would actually work → Il est resté très vague sur la manière dont cela pourrait marcher en réalité., Il est resté dans le vague sur la manière dont cela pourrait effectivement marcher.
(= absent-minded) [person] → dans le vague, perdu(e) dans ses pensées; [look] → vague
(= slight) [feeling] → vague before n
a vague feeling of sth → un vague sentiment de qch
[shape, outline] → vague
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

vague

adj (+er)
(= not clear) person, planvage, unbestimmt; outline, shapeverschwommen; photographunscharf, verschwommen; report, questionvage, ungenau; murmurdumpf, undeutlich; I haven’t the vaguest ideaich habe nicht die leiseste Ahnung; there’s a vague resemblancees besteht eine entfernte Ähnlichkeit; I had a vague idea she would comeich hatte so eine (dunkle) Ahnung, dass sie kommen würde; I am still very vague on this theorydie Theorie ist mir noch nicht sehr klar; I am very vague on Dutch politicsvon holländischer Politik habe ich nicht viel Ahnung; he was vague about the time of his arrivaler äußerte sich nur vage or unbestimmt über seine Ankunftszeit; a vague sense of uneaseein leichtes Unbehagen
(= absent-minded)geistesabwesend, zerstreut; do you really understand, you look rather vague?verstehst du das wirklich, du siehst so verwirrt aus?; to have a vague look in one’s eyeseinen abwesenden or (not having understood) → verständnislosen Gesichtsausdruck haben
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

vague

[veɪg] adj (-r (comp) (-st (superl))) (gen) → vago/a; (directions, description) → impreciso/a, confuso/a; (indistinct, memory) → sfocato/a; (person, absent-minded) → distratto/a
I have a vague idea that ... → ho la vaga impressione che...
I haven't the vaguest idea → non ho la minima or più pallida idea
the vague outline of a ship → la sagoma indistinta or confusa di una nave
a vague look → uno sguardo assente or vuoto
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

vague

(veig) adjective
1. not clear, distinct or definite. Through the fog we saw the vague outline of a ship; She has only a vague idea of how this machine works.vago
2. (of people) imprecise, or impractical and forgetful. He is always very vague when making arrangements.vago
ˈvagueness noun
vaguedad, imprecisión
ˈvaguely adverb
1. in a vague manner. I remember him very vaguely.vagamente
2. slightly. She felt vaguely irritated; I feel vaguely uneasy.vagamente, un poco
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

vague

impreciso
Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009

vague

a. vago-a, indefinido-a;
adv. vagamente.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012
References in classic literature ?
The beats of her heart grew fainter and fainter, and vaguer, like a fountain giving out, like an echo dying away;--and when she exhaled her last breath, she thought she saw in the half-opened heavens a gigantic parrot hovering above her head.
He shrank from this vaguer dread, and fixed his mind with struggling effort on the robber with hands, who could be reached by hands.
Also, it is admitted, when consciousness suffused his brain with a thought, that the thought was dimmer, vaguer than a similar thought in a human brain.
She was not sleepy although she did not see anything very distinctly, but although the figures passing through the hall became vaguer and vaguer, she believed that they all knew exactly where they were going, and the sense of their certainty filled her with comfort.
And there was more that passed through her mind--sensations of tiredness and loneliness; trampling squadrons and shadowy armies of vague feelings and vaguer prompting; and deeper and dimmer whisperings and echoings, the flutterings of forgotten generations crystallized into being and fluttering anew and always, undreamed and unguessed, subtle and potent, the spirit and essence of life that under a thousand deceits and masks forever makes for life.
She remembered her mother--a pallid creature, who had slowly faded out of one of her father's vague speculations in a vaguer speculation of her own, beyond his ken--whose place she had promised to take at her father's side.
He desired fame or wine or the beauty of women with a torrid directness inconceivable among the cloudy ideals or cloudy compromises of the north; to vaguer races his intensity smelt of danger or even crime.
Rosamond, whose basis for her structure had the usual airy slightness, was of remarkably detailed and realistic imagination when the foundation had been once presupposed; and before they had ridden a mile she was far on in the costume and introductions of her wedded life, having determined on her house in Middle-march, and foreseen the visits she would pay to her husband's high-bred relatives at a distance, whose finished manners she could appropriate as thoroughly as she had done her school accomplishments, preparing herself thus for vaguer elevations which might ultimately come.
Mr Hart said: "Why does a community council that displays a vague agenda and an even vaguer account of minutes and which already owns three notice boards, need to spend PS561 on a fourth board?
And if their lamentations were vague, their proposals were even vaguer: some blushingly argued for the status quo, others would simply change the topic.Today, interestingly, there is a shift in narrative.
The things Americans are apparently envisioning when they tell pollsters they support Medicare-for-all turn out to be a different, vaguer and more varied set of ideas than the specific thing that Sanders, Rep.
The six-to-30-day forecast, which is much vaguer than the week-byweek forecast, suggests conditions will be "mobile" for a while, though the end of the month may well bring a risk of frost, fog and snow.