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.
It’s the digital equivalent of the King Midas myth, in which the king’s ill-defined wish turns even his food and drink into gold.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
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
With a slight push, a slip over some ill-defined edge, I could turn into a bag lady.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
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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.
