vague
Americanadjective
-
not clearly or explicitly stated or expressed.
vague promises.
- Synonyms:
- imprecise, unspecific
-
indefinite or indistinct in nature or character, as ideas or feelings.
a vague premonition of disaster.
-
not clear or distinct to the sight or any other sense; perceptible or recognizable only in an indefinite way: vague murmurs behind a door.
vague shapes in the dark;
vague murmurs behind a door.
-
not definitely established, determined, confirmed, or known; uncertain.
a vague rumor;
The date of his birth is vague.
-
(of persons) not clear or definite in thought, understanding, or expression: a vague person.
vague about his motives;
a vague person.
-
(of the eyes, expression, etc.) showing lack of clear perception or understanding.
a vague stare.
adjective
-
(of statements, meaning, etc) not explicit; imprecise
vague promises
-
not clearly perceptible or discernible; indistinct
a vague idea
a vague shape
-
not clearly or definitely established or known
a vague rumour
-
(of a person or his expression) demonstrating lack of precision or clear thinking; absent-minded
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of vague
First recorded in 1540–50; from Middle French or directly from Latin vagus “wandering”
Explanation
If your grasp of physics is vague and you've got a test coming up, it's time to hit the books. When something is vague, it’s unclear, murky, and hard to understand. Vague comes from the Latin vagus, which means wandering or rambling. Think of a vagabond, someone who wanders around the world with only a vague idea of where he's going. There are a few big, impressive words for vague, including ambiguous, nebulous, and tenebrous.
Vocabulary lists containing vague
"Harrison Bergeron"
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"The Crucible" -- Vocabulary from all 4 Acts
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List 5
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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.
See Examples For:
McVay has made vague references to Garrett’s “progress.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2026
Yeah, those are just polls and they only offer you a vague snapshot in time.
From Salon ● Oct. 9, 2026
The same competitive pressures that drive the accumulation of computing power will also encourage the invention of ways to circumvent, erode or evade vague or complex rules.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
As is to be expected from the Silent Hill games, the real reasons why you're there and what's going on are teased as you progress through the story in a typically vague fashion.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
I hardly know whether I had slept or not after this musing; at any rate, I started wide awake on hearing a vague murmur, peculiar and lugubrious, which sounded, I thought, just above me.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
But such a war would be putty in the hands of international judges if they were to adopt a vaguer standard that allows genocidal intent to be inferred “holistically” from “facts and circumstances.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
By the time April 2020 rolled around, Gyllenhaal had moved into vaguer terminology.
From Salon ● May 27, 2026
Emilie Kouatchou’s Holly moves the character away from the obvious Christine McVie reference, but her role has become vaguer and less central.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 12, 2025
The Dutch language edition, Eindstrijd, has a very plain reference to a senior royal and there have been claims of another much vaguer reference to a second name.
From BBC ● Nov. 29, 2023
And the vaguer you told things, the better.
From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
In its recent statement to customers, Liberty made only the vaguest of promises.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2026
In Mr Gallant's "four corners" plan, the Palestinian component is perhaps the vaguest.
From BBC ● Jan. 6, 2024
Even now, far from home, he’s too scared to be identified beyond his last name and with only the vaguest military details.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 5, 2023
Instead, Macras and her 10 performers — drawn from her own company, Dorky Park, plus some guest dancers — serve up a disjointed revue that is about theater itself, in the vaguest of senses.
From New York Times ● Jan. 20, 2023
During my time at Baker & Inglis, while I was falling in love with the Object, I had remained aware of my grandmother only in the vaguest of ways.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
