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Definition of vague adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

vague

adjective
 
/veɪɡ/
 
/veɪɡ/
(comparative vaguer, superlative vaguest)
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  1. not clear in a person’s mind
    • to have a vague impression/memory/recollection of something
    • They had only a vague idea where the place was.
    Extra Examples
    • I am vague about what happened during the rest of the night.
    • I have a vague recollection of meeting him when I was a child.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    • look
    • sound
    adverb
    • extremely
    • fairly
    • very
    preposition
    • about
    • as to
    • in
    See full entry
  2. vague (about something) not having or giving enough information or details about something
    • She's a little vague about her plans for next year.
    • The politicians made vague promises about tax cuts.
    • He was accused of being deliberately vague.
    • We had only a vague description of the attacker.
    • He outlined the policy in vague terms.
    Extra Examples
    • Her directions were hopelessly vague.
    • It was a vague enough concept for the liberals to unite around.
    • It was a vague enough suggestion for everyone to be happy with it.
    • Since the officers knew little themselves their reassurances were necessarily vague.
    • The identity of the city in the novel is deliberately left vague.
    • The law is notoriously vague on this point.
    • The statement was vague in its wording.
    • You're being deliberately vague.
    • an inherently vague and subjective concept
    • I was suitably vague as to exactly how I had acquired the money.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    • look
    • sound
    adverb
    • extremely
    • fairly
    • very
    preposition
    • about
    • as to
    • in
    See full entry
  3. (of a person’s behaviour) suggesting a lack of clear thought or attention synonym absent-minded
    • His vague manner concealed a brilliant mind.
    • She seems to be getting rather vague as she grows older.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    • look
    • sound
    adverb
    • extremely
    • fairly
    • very
    preposition
    • about
    • as to
    • in
    See full entry
  4. not having a clear shape synonym indistinct
    • In the darkness they could see the vague outline of a church.
  5. Word Originmid 16th cent.: from French, or from Latin vagus ‘wandering, uncertain’.
See vague in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee vague in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
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