vaguely

[veyg-lee]

adverb

1. in a way that is unclear, imprecise, or uncertain: The sound was vaguely familiar, but she couldn't identify it.

   They've been talking vaguely about maybe buying a house there one of these days.

   The sound was vaguely familiar, but she couldn't identify it.

Other Word Forms

• unvaguely adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of vaguely¹

vague ( def. ) + -ly

Example Sentences

The gifted and logorrheic podcaster has lately asserted an argument on “collective punishment” and “identity” that sounds, at first, vaguely plausible.

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There has been intense debate in scientific circles about UPFs, with some health and nutrition experts raising concerns that the term is vaguely defined and that more research is needed.

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I asked a cashier, noting that contemporary country makes my skin crawl despite the fact that I vaguely belong to the same ethnic group that produces it.

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A famous general, of whom I was only vaguely aware, was facing the end of his life.

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And Dr. Michael Burry was dumbstruck: He recalled Asperger’s from med school, but vaguely.

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