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Synonyms

nonspecific

British  
/ ˌnɒnspɪˈsɪfɪk /

adjective

  1. not explicit, particular, or definite

"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

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.

There’s also a reference to septicemia, which is writer-director Emerald Fennell’s perhaps too-technical stab at explaining the nonspecific Victorian disease that afflicts one character.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 11, 2026

Amid whatever contentious points they wanted to score, presidents have nearly always reverted to some broad-minded but nonspecific celebration of diversity and pluralism.

From Salon • Sep. 28, 2025

There were placeholders and they were nonspecific enough that we felt that they’d be appropriate — the scene was Abbott on the roof, I make reference to having made a speech, the speech was TBD.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2025

Also, Chafetz wrote about how the appropriations power was, early on, used in a broad and nonspecific way, which Alito deemed unconstitutional.

From Slate • May 31, 2024

Or can we use a nonspecific fungicide without also killing the fungi that inhabit the roots of many trees in a beneficial association that aids the tree in extracting nutrients from the soil?

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson