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Synonyms

inexact

American  
[in-ig-zakt] / ˌɪn ɪgˈzækt /

adjective

  1. not exact; not strictly precise or accurate.

inexact British  
/ ˌɪnɪɡˈzækt /

adjective

  1. not exact or accurate

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • inexactitude noun
  • inexactly adverb
  • inexactness noun

Etymology

Origin of inexact

First recorded in 1820–30; in- 3 + exact

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.

“Assessing social and emotional dimensions of growth is an inexact science. We could assess all 4-year-olds, but we might not be measuring the right thing.”

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 5, 2026

Others combine to forge inexact recollections, grouping together years of returning to specific family properties, rental houses and cottages, condos and campsites.

From Salon • Apr. 25, 2025

Any assessment of testing is always going to be inexact, based as it is on hints and snapshots of something necessarily opaque.

From BBC • Mar. 1, 2025

Airdropping aid, food, and supplies is expensive, inexact, and inefficient and usually only a last resort when your enemies have left you no other options.

From Slate • Mar. 6, 2024

Their intelligence about the organization was often inexact.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

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.