inexact
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of inexact
Explanation
Something inexact is vague or not quite correct. If a doctor gives you an inexact diagnosis, you might want to see a specialist for a more specific opinion. When a poem's translation from one language to another is inexact, a lot of the original meaning can be lost. Some things, like weather prediction, simply have to be inexact — you could call meteorology, or the study of weather patterns, an "inexact science." The Latin root is exactus, "precise or accurate," with the added prefix in-, or "not."
Vocabulary lists containing inexact
Way Off: Synonyms for "Wrong"
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Wrong
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
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
Once in a while, I feel so sad that I’ll never understand a piece of translated writing the way it’s really meant to be understood, because even the most exquisite translations are, by definition, inexact.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 8, 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.
