inexact
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived 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"
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Wrong
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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.
These numbers are seasonally adjusted, and the government’s process for doing so is sometimes inexact, to say the least.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 11, 2026
It’s an inexact parallel, if it’s any kind of parallel at all.
From Salon • May 3, 2026
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
Realism wasn’t the point; certainly it was an inexact portrayal of the workings of a football team, off and on the pitch.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 1, 2023
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.
