indistinct

American  

[in-di-stingkt] / ˌɪn dɪˈstɪŋkt /

adjective

1. not distinct; not clearly marked or defined.

   indistinct markings.

2. not clearly distinguishable or perceptible, as to the eye, ear, or mind.

   He heard an indistinct muttering.

   Synonyms:

   dim, clouded

3. not distinguishing clearly.

   After the accident he suffered from indistinct vision and faulty hearing.

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indistinct British  

/ ˌɪndɪˈstɪŋkt /

adjective

1. incapable of being clearly distinguished, as by the eyes, ears, or mind; not distinct

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Other Word Forms

• indistinctness
  noun
• indistinctly
  adverb

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.

Example Sentences

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

Yet from that painful personal source emerges something unfortunately indistinct, as though softly blanketed by the snow that sifts slowly down during this holiday drama.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 11, 2025

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

The first weeks after a sperm fertilises an egg is a period of dramatic change - from a collection of indistinct cells to something that eventually becomes recognisable on a baby scan.

From BBC • Sep. 6, 2023

Blue-filtered daylight shone from a row of unreachable windows, beyond which was the street, a smear of indistinct gray.

From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs