/veɪɡ/, /væɡ/
OriginFrom Middle French vague, from Latin vagus (“uncertain, vague”, literally “wandering, rambling, strolling”).
- 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 ”
“Throughout the first week of his presidency, Dulles and Bissell continued to brief Kennedy on their strategy for Cuba, but the men were vague and their meetings offered little in the way of hard facts”
- Not having a precise meaning.
- Not clearly defined, grasped, or understood; indistinct; slight.
“only a vague notion of what’s needed”
“a vague hint of a thickening waistline”
“I haven’t the vaguest idea.”
- Not clearly felt or sensed; somewhat subconscious.
“a vague longing”
“For though my nature rarely yields
To that vague fear implied in death;
Nor shudders at the gulfs beneath,
The howlings from forgotten fields; […]”
- 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 […]”
- Lacking expression; vacant.
- 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 passin”
- Wandering; vagrant; vagabond.
“The Lord Gray incourag'd his men to set sharply upon the vague villains”
“She danced along with vague, regardless eyes, / Anxious her lips, her breathing quick and short: [...]”
- An indefinite expanse.
“The gray vague of unsympathizing sea / That dragged his fancy from her moorings back / To shores inhospitable of eldest time.”
- obsoleteA wandering; a vagary.
“[T]he Scots had some leasure to plaie their vagues”
- archaicto wander; to roam; to stray.
“[The soul] doth vague and wander.”
- To become vague or act in a vague manner.
“Vaguely, yes. I've vagued all my life; that's been my curse.”
“A man's mind vagued up a little, for how can you remember the feel of pleasure or pain or choking emotion?”
“What's with you? You're all vagued out.”
- Internet, intransitiveTo make vague negative comments publicly; to make highly veiled complaints or insults.
Formsvaguer(comparative) · vaguest(superlative) · vagues(plural) · vagues(present, singular, third-person) · vaguing(participle, present) · vagued(participle, past) · vagued(past)
Source: Wiktionary