vague

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Not clearly expressed; stated in indefinite terms.

   It follows from what has been said that a vague thought has more likelihood of being true than a precise one. To try and hit an object with a vague thought is like trying to hit the bull's eye with a lump of putty: when the putty reaches the target, it flattens out all over it, and probably covers the bull's eye along with the rest. To try and hit an object with a precise thought is like trying to hit the bull's eye with a bullet. The advantage of the precise thought is that it distinguishes between the bull's eye and the rest of the target.

2. 2
   adj

   Not having a precise meaning.

   a vague term of abuse

3. 3
   adj

   Not clearly defined, grasped, or understood; indistinct; slight.

   only a vague notion of what’s needed

4. 4
   adj

   Not clearly felt or sensed; somewhat subconscious.

   a vague longing

5. 5
   adj

   Not thinking or expressing one’s thoughts clearly or precisely.

   Waxed-fleshed out-patients / Still vague from accidents, / And characters in long coats / Deep in the litter-baskets […]

6. 6
   adj

   Not sharply outlined; hazy.

   He walked. To the corner of Hamilton Place and Picadilly, and there stayed for a while, for it is a romantic station by night. The vague and careless rain looked like threads of gossamer silver passing across the light of the arc-lamps.

7. 7
   adj

   Wandering; vagrant; vagabond.

   The Lord Gray incourag'd his men to set sharply upon the vague villains

8. 8
   noun

   An indefinite expanse.

   The gray vague of unsympathizing sea / That dragged his fancy from her moorings back / To shores inhospitable of eldest time.

Etymology

From Middle French vague, from Latin vagus (“uncertain, vague”, literally “wandering, rambling, strolling”).