indistinct
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of indistinct
From the Latin word indistinctus, dating back to 1520–30. See in- 3, distinct
Explanation
Is it hard to tell what someone is saying? Can you not see something clearly? Anything hard to make out is indistinct. Indistinct things are fuzzy, unclear, and hard to see or understand. A whisper can be indistinct. A clear, confident speaker is not indistinct. People like to say what a cloud is shaped like, but clouds are generally pretty indistinct — that's why different people will see different shapes in the same cloud. When we're writing, speaking, or drawing, we should try to be distinct, not indistinct — because we want to be understood.
Vocabulary lists containing indistinct
Holes
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It's All a Blur: Synonyms for "Unclear"
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Coraline
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Everything in “Mother Mary” feels like it exists in a dream within a dream: the tertiary characters who fade in and out of the narrative, the catchy yet indistinct pop songs, the dreary midnight-blue location.
From Salon ● Apr. 24, 2026
The majority of its dozen tracks coast along with an agreeable yet lifeless electro-pop groove, with layered voices approximating the earnest and indistinct ballads of latter-day Coldplay.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 10, 2026
This galaxy, AzTECC71, was first detected as an indistinct blob of dust emission by a camera on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope in Hawaii that sees in wavelengths between far infrared and microwave.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 1, 2023
At times, Puth's voice sounds "smudged" with consonants that are occasionally muddied and indistinct.
From BBC ● Nov. 16, 2023
Her features were watery and indistinct, but he knew her voice: bright and brittle, like the thinnest layer of ice over a fast stream.
From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
