ill-defined
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of ill-defined
First recorded in 1865–70
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.
Researchers called the terms ill-defined and said they aren’t used in international counterterrorism work.
From Salon • May 19, 2026
“The role is ill-defined by design,” said Kanekar, whose advisory business has seen a surge of interest from organizations looking to replicate the Palantir model over the past six months.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 4, 2026
According to reports, these include OpenAI going public or achieving artificial general intelligence, a sometimes ill-defined standard of AI capability that more closely matches human-level ability.
From Barron's • Feb. 27, 2026
The Sayce review found between 2015 and the summer of 2025 the official Carer's Allowance guidance was "unclear" and "ill-defined" - preventing many carers from properly reporting their earnings.
From BBC • Nov. 25, 2025
At this stage in her life Briony inhabited an ill-defined transitional space between the nursery and adult worlds which she crossed and recrossed unpredictably.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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.
