vagueness
AmericanExplanation
Vagueness is a state of being unclear or uncertain. The vagueness of your directions won't be very helpful to the lost pedestrian who's trying to find the closest subway station. If your parents ask what time you went to bed, you might say “nine-ish” and hope they don’t question your vagueness. Vagueness can also be visual, like the vagueness of shapes in the fog. The Latin root of vagueness, vagus literally means "wandering" and figuratively means "vacillating or uncertain."
Vocabulary lists containing vagueness
Novel Study: Invisible Man, Chapter 15–Epilogue
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The Suffix -ness, Part 3
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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.
Vagueness does become a virtue in Matt Saunders’s set, in which a generic kitchen at one point changes into a grim hospital room with remarkable effectiveness.
From New York Times • Nov. 10, 2022
She's also committed to getting "as close as we can" to 50/50 gender split on the bill; while there are "fresh ideas" afoot for the festival's outré late-night arenas, Block9, Lost Vagueness and Arcadia.
From BBC • Dec. 27, 2019
Two other categories were “Misleading Vagueness and Fanciful Details” and “Inventing Straw Men,” particularly the media.
From Salon • Feb. 24, 2019
Vagueness and dreaminess didn't play well in that context.
From Slate • Sep. 22, 2011
Vagueness is at times necessary and mystery is never in short supply, but I don’t think they’re anything to worship.
From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos
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.
