I have a vague feeling that we might be wasting our money. ], from Old French vague (movement on the surface of a liquid, ripple), from Old Norse vgr (sea), from Proto-Germanic *wgaz (wave, storm), from Proto-Indo-European *we- (to drag, carry). He's vaguely familiar with the area. Enter the length or pattern for better results. A vague person is not able to think clearly, or gives an impression of not WebIn the common law system, vagueness is a possible legal defence against by-laws and other regulations. Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary, not clearly defined, grasped, or understood, not thinking or expressing ones thoughts clearly or precisely, It follows from what has been said that a, He walked. vague feelings of sadness. This page shows answers to the clue Vague, followed by 7 definitions like A wandering; a vagary , An indefinite expanse and To wander; to roam . Fourteen words that helped define the year. How is the word vague different from other adjectives like it? The student gave the teacher a vague stare. (1978). Vagueness is also a problem which arises in law, and in some cases, judges have to arbitrate regarding whether a borderline case does, or does not, satisfy a given vague concept. This principle is sometimes used to strike down municipal by-laws that forbid "explicit" or "objectionable" contents from being sold in a certain city; courts often find such expressions to be too vague, giving municipal inspectors discretion beyond what the law allows. In linguistics and philosophy, a vague predicate is one which gives rise to borderline cases. WebC1. What that something will bewho it will hurt, and who will do the hurtingremains somewhat vague. ThoughtCo. 4. not definitely established, determined, confirmed, or known: a vague rumor. quotations synonym Synonym: dazed Lacking expression; vacant . Vaguely. Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vaguely. ly vg-l. "Frank is bald", where Frank is a borderline case of baldness), but does have consequences for logically complex statements. ", -Willam Hughes and Jonathan Lavery, Critical Thinking: An Introduction to the Basic Skills, 5th ed. This approach has been defended by Kit Fine and Rosanna Keefe. One vague word is enough. More at waw, wave. Some philosophers say that one should try to come up with a definition that is itself unclear on just those cases. : in a vague way: such as. WebVAGUE STREETWEAR VAGUE Streetwear 777 HOODIE [ASPHALT] $65 777 HOODIE [BABY BLUE] $65 HEAVY METAL HOODIE [BLACK] $65 CHROME HEART HOODIE [BLACK] $65 HEAVY METAL LONG SLEEVE [STEEL] $40 HEAVY METAL TEE [AGED BLACK] $35 ESSENTIALS HOODIE [LAVENDER] $65 ESSENTIALS Good luck! What does fair to all the parties mean? They state a general idea but leave the precise meaning to the receiver's interpretationThe following examples show vague or abstract words and ways to make them specific and precise: Notice in the preceding examples how adding a few words makes the meaning precise. What are appropriate measures? Downtoners are words or phrases which reduce the force of another word or phrase. (of persons) not clear or definite in thought, understanding, or Such phrases are inherently vague and can mean almost anything. [ + of] Synonyms: absent-mindedness, abstraction, forgetfulness, confusion More Synonyms of vague Synonyms: impreciseness, ambiguity, obscurity, looseness More Synonyms of vague 2. adjective If you have a vague memory or idea of something, the memory or idea is not clear. Become a WordReference Supporter to view the site ad-free. not clear in shape, or not clearly seen: Through the mist I could just make out a vague figure. Is something important missing? When can obscure be used instead of vague? vague adj (inattentive) impreciso/a adj : The student gave the teacher a vague stare. 2. indefinite or indistinct in nature or character, as ideas or feelings: a vague premonition of disaster. Webnot definitely established, determined, confirmed, or known; uncertain: a vague rumor; The date of his birth is vague. I have a vague recollection of meeting that man somewhere, but I can't remember where it was. The word in the example sentence does not match the entry word. [ + of] Synonyms: absent-mindedness, abstraction, forgetfulness, confusion More Synonyms of vague Synonyms: impreciseness, ambiguity, obscurity, looseness More Synonyms of vague 2. adjective If you have a vague memory or idea of something, the memory or indistinct. It may be essentially doubtful whether this is a red shape because it is essentially doubtful whether this is red, although beyond doubt that it is a shape. He defends an interesting and sophisticated system of vague semantics, based on the notion that a vague predicate might be "made precise" in many alternative ways. Webvague (veg) adj. A word is vague when it is not obvious to a respondent what referents (e.g., instances, cases, examples) fall under the umbrella of the word's intended meaningFor example, consider the question, 'How many members of your household work?' But I think that people who have challenged it sometimes are kind of vague in their reasons for the challenge. 1976. Definition and Examples of Language Contact, Definition and Examples of Speakers in Language Studies, Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia, M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester, B.A., English, State University of New York. WebVAGUE Synonyms: 58 Synonyms & Antonyms for VAGUE | Thesaurus.com Find Out! Generalizations alone have no persuasive value. In particular, the tautologies of sentential logic, such as "Frank is bald or Frank is not bald", will turn out to be supertrue, since on any precisification of baldness, either "Frank is bald" or "Frank is not bald" will be true. To save this word, you'll need to log in. Click the answer to find similar crossword Webvague adj (understanding) (comprensin) vago/a adj : incompleto/a adj : Simon had to stand in for the maths teacher, despite only having a vague knowledge of the subject. The, the Scots had some leasure to plaie their, movement on the surface of a liquid, ripple, Un peu comme un bateau qui trouve son quilibre entre les, A little like a boat that finds its equilibrium between waves and chaos, Piracy: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days, The Firste Volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande, Trsor de la langue franaise informatis, https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=vague&oldid=70982514, French terms inherited from Middle French, French terms derived from Proto-Indo-European, Requests for review of Arabic translations, Requests for review of Dutch translations, Requests for review of French translations, Requests for review of German translations, Requests for review of Hungarian translations, Requests for review of Korean translations, Requests for review of Mandarin translations, Requests for review of Serbo-Croatian translations, Requests for review of Spanish translations, Requests for review of Swedish translations, Requests for review of Turkish translations, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. A. L. Kennedy. not clear in shape, or not clearly seen: Through the mist I could just make out a vague figure. So perhaps one's term 'cloud' denotes a vague object precisely. Downtoning is the opposite of emphasising. When each letter can be seen but not heard. From Middle French vague, from Latin vagus (uncertain, vague, literally wandering, rambling, strolling). To save this word, you'll need to log in. Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English. (of persons) not clear or definite in thought, understanding, or expression: Learn a new word every day. WebC1. This page shows answers to the clue Vague, followed by 7 definitions like A wandering; a vagary , An indefinite expanse and To wander; to roam . C2. But the vagueness of a sentence does not imply that vagueness of every constituent word. C2. vague feelings of sadness. Add vague to one of your lists below, or create a new one. We often add words and phrases such as about, kind of, sort of, and that kind of thing to make what we say less factual and direct: Just exactly who is in power, and how much power they have, is, The company declined our request for an interview and is fairly, And some might simply have bad judgment or be mistaken about what a, The diagnosis can be confusing, and it can be, Unfortunately, the narrative here has been, On top of it, you have tax proposals from candidates that are really pretty. 0 && stateHdr.searchDesk ? Work in philosophy of language has addressed implications of vagueness for the theory of meaning, while metaphysicians have considered whether reality itself is vague. quotations synonyms Synonyms: fuzzy, hazy, ill-defined; see also Thesaurus: indistinct Wandering; vagrant; vagabond . Others say that one has an interest in making his or her definitions more precise than ordinary language, or his or her ordinary concepts, themselves allow; they recommend one advances precising definitions.[1]. Hear a word and type it out. The politician gave a vague answer, then tried to change the subject. C2. Work in formal semantics has sought to provide a compositional semantics for vague expressions in natural language. One wants a definition to cover actions that are clearly right and exclude actions that are clearly wrong, but what does one do with the borderline cases? quotations synonyms Synonyms: fuzzy, hazy, ill-defined; see also Thesaurus: indistinct Wandering; vagrant; vagabond . Nonetheless, the concept of species can be clearly applied in the vast majority of cases. What counts as someone working?Vagueness is ubiquitous in most survey questions. Some common synonyms of vague are ambiguous, cryptic, dark, enigmatic, equivocal, and obscure. a vague uneasiness. Thus ambiguity corresponds to separation, and vagueness to unity, of different meanings. C2. While in some cases nearly identical to vague, cryptic implies a purposely concealed meaning. C2. For example, the English adjective "tall" is vague since it is not clearly true or false for someone of middling height. The 42-year-old, who lost his job because of the pandemic and started working as a runner at a hospital, said the governments communication has been too vague. ), adulthood (most familiarly reflected in legal ages for driving, drinking, voting, consensual sex, etc. Delivered to your inbox! Click on the arrows to change the translation direction. We have no clear idea. As to whether Cisco would have kept selling its Kinetic for Cities software if it wasnt for the coronavirus pandemic, Diedrich was vague. Fill in the blank: I cant figure out _____ gave me this gift. Still by, for instance, proposing alternative deduction rules involving Leibniz's law or other rules for validity some philosophers are willing to defend ontological vagueness as some kind of metaphysical phenomenon. Hear a word and type it out. ly vg-l. a vague uneasiness. The words enigmatic and vague are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Macagno and Walton note that vagueness "can also be introduced for the purpose of allowing the speaker to redefine the concept he wishes to use" (Emotive Language in Argumentation, 2014). If a vague statement comes out true under one precisification and false under another, it is both true and false. a vague longing Not thinking or expressing ones thoughts clearly or precisely. A vague person is not able to think clearly, or gives an impression of not In the common law system, vagueness is a possible legal defence against by-laws and other regulations. : in a vague way: such as. Barron's, 2009. adjective. ", "The difference between ambiguity and vagueness is a matter of whether two or more meanings associated with a given phonological form are distinct (ambiguous), or united as non-distinguished subcases of a single, more general meaning (vague). Now it has settled with the FTC to pay up, Cheat Sheet: As Apple preps IDFA crackdown for early spring, heres everything you need to know, How to Fix the Incentives in Cancer Research (Ep. Since the proof Evans produces relies on the assumption that terms precisely denote vague objects, the implication is that the assumption is false, and so the vague-objects view is wrong. This question has several vague words, most of which would be missed by the vast majority synonyms Synonyms: vacant, vacuous Not sharply outlined; hazy . The concept of vagueness has philosophical importance. In ordinary logics, there are only two truth-values: "true" and "false". not clearly defined or easy to perceive or understand. Enter the length or pattern for better results. WordReference English-Spanish Dictionary 2023: Forum discussions with the word(s) "vague" in the title: In other languages: French | Italian | Portuguese | Romanian | German | Dutch | Swedish | Russian | Polish | Czech | Greek | Turkish | Chinese | Japanese | Korean | Arabic. How to use a word that (literally) drives some pe Editor Emily Brewster clarifies the difference. 'pa pdd chac-sb tc-bd bw hbr-20 hbss lpt-25' : 'hdn'">. Perfect truth may be represented by "1", and perfect falsity by "0". For example, in the epistemicist view, there is a fact of the matter, for every person, about whether that person is old or not old; some people are ignorant of this fact. This strategy has been poorly received, in part due to Gareth Evans's short paper "Can There Be Vague Objects?" In speech or writing, vagueness is the imprecise or unclear use of language. men on foot, dressed vaguely like janitors . Given a supervaluationist semantics, one can define the predicate "supertrue" as meaning "true on all precisifications". Specifically, enigmatic stresses a puzzling, mystifying quality. ly vg-l. More synonyms can be found below the puzzle answers. This page shows answers to the clue Vague, followed by 7 definitions like A wandering; a vagary , An indefinite expanse and To wander; to roam . lacking clarity or distinctness. Not clearly defined, grasped, or understood; Not thinking or expressing ones thoughts clearly or precisely. not clear in shape, or not clearly seen: Through the mist I could just make out a vague figure. 4. not definitely established, determined, confirmed, or known: a vague rumor. vagueness uncountable noun the vagueness of the language in the text. In what contexts can enigmatic take the place of vague? Where once the city was a battleground for two main militias now at least five militias claim, I've always believed closers are like girlfriends: You remember the great ones, you remember the awful ones and you, Post the Definition of vaguely to Facebook, Share the Definition of vaguely on Twitter, Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. To become vague or act in a vague manner. C1. They could be anything or nothing. Broadview Press, 2008. When would cryptic be a good substitute for vague? not clear in shape, or not clearly seen: Through the mist I could just make out a vague figure. It thus has "truth-value gluts". One possibility is that one's words and concepts are perfectly precise, but that objects themselves are vague. vague (7) Crossword Clue | Wordplays.com Advertisement vague (7) Crossword Clue The Crossword Solver found 54 answers to "vague (7)", 7 letters crossword clue. Synonyms for Vague are for example ambiguous, ambivalent and bewildered. Webvague adjective vg vaguer; vaguest 1 a : not clearly expressed : stated in indefinite terms vague accusations b : not having a precise meaning a vague term of abuse 2 a : not men on foot, dressed vaguely like janitors . Synonyms for Vague are for example ambiguous, ambivalent and bewildered. I have a vague idea of what I want to say, but I don't know how to phrase it. But McCulloch remained vague about the issues that he says we need to address. An old-fashioned rule we can no longer put up with. To the corner of Hamilton Place and Picadilly, and there stayed for a while, for it is a romantic station by night. Web1 as in unclear not expressed in precise terms gave as vague a reply as he could, hoping not to give away the surprise Synonyms & Similar Words Relevance unclear ambiguous fuzzy cryptic indefinite inexplicit confusing nebulous obscure enigmatic hazy muzzy indistinct murky enigmatical unintelligible undefined uncertain equivocal blurry indeterminate Fourteen words that helped define the year. VAGUE STREETWEAR VAGUE Streetwear 777 HOODIE [ASPHALT] $65 777 HOODIE [BABY BLUE] $65 HEAVY METAL HOODIE [BLACK] $65 CHROME HEART HOODIE [BLACK] $65 HEAVY METAL LONG SLEEVE [STEEL] $40 HEAVY METAL TEE [AGED BLACK] $35 ESSENTIALS HOODIE [LAVENDER] $65 ESSENTIALS HOODIE C2. Thesaurus / vague FEEDBACK vague See definition of vague on Dictionary.com adj. The Crossword Solver finds answers to classic crosswords and cryptic crossword puzzles. Using the word opinion. 3. not clearly perceptible: vague murmurs. For other uses, see, Machina, K.F. not precisely limited, determined, or distinguished. ", "The primary application of 'vague' is to sentences, not to words. How many can you get right? Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Random House, Inc. 2023, Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition , , Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary, the webmaster's page for free fun content, Vaguely Plausible National Football League. quotations synonyms Synonyms: fuzzy, hazy, ill-defined; see also Thesaurus: indistinct Wandering; vagrant; vagabond . Conflicting, positive or strongly held? He had a vague feeling of dread as he walked into his boss's office for the meeting. As an adjective, the word becomes vague. He's vaguely familiar with the area. Bn cng c th tm cc t lin quan, cc cm t v t ng ngha trong cc ch ny: Nng cao vn t vng ca bn vi English Vocabulary in Use t Cambridge.Hc cc t bn cn giao tip mt cch t tin. Examples include disability (how much loss of vision is required before one is legally blind? "Truth, belief and vagueness", in, Paraconsistent Vagueness: A Positive Argument, Affirmative conclusion from a negative premise, Negative conclusion from affirmative premises, Segmented discourse representation theory, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vagueness&oldid=1109535686, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from April 2017, Articles with unsourced statements from April 2017, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy links, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 10 September 2022, at 12:57. vagueness uncountable noun the vagueness of the language in the text. "Definition and Examples of Vagueness in Language." saw a vague outline of a building through the fog. This question has several vague words, most of which would be missed by the vast majority of respondents. not definitely established, determined, confirmed, or known; uncertain: a vague rumor; The date of his birth is vague. The cabinet minister who says. 0 && stateHdr.searchDesk ? not clear in shape, or not clearly seen: Through the mist I could just make out a vague figure. The legal principle is that delegated power cannot be used more broadly than the delegator intended. How many can you get right? It could be argued that members, household, and work are all vague words. The most common downtoners are: We use vague language such as kind of, sort of or the suffix -ish to reduce the force of a word or phrase: Vague language is very common, especially in speaking. People who use them should be challenged to say more precisely what they mean. Synonyms for Vague are for example ambiguous, ambivalent and bewildered. Accessed 18 Jan. 2023. The most common downtoners are: We use vague language such as kind of, sort of or the suffix -ish to reduce the force of a word or phrase: Vague language is very common, especially in speaking. Therefore, a regulation may not be so vague as to regulate areas beyond what the law allows. Web1 as in unclear not expressed in precise terms gave as vague a reply as he could, hoping not to give away the surprise Synonyms & Similar Words Relevance unclear ambiguous fuzzy cryptic indefinite inexplicit confusing nebulous obscure enigmatic hazy muzzy indistinct murky enigmatical unintelligible undefined uncertain equivocal blurry indeterminate A fourth approach, known as "the epistemicist view", has been defended by Timothy Williamson (1994),[7] R. A. Sorensen (1988) [8] and (2001),[9] and Nicholas Rescher (2009). vague adj (inattentive) impreciso/a adj : The student gave the teacher a vague A vague person is not able to think clearly, or gives an impression of not thinking clearly in order to hide their real thoughts: My aunt is incredibly vague - she can never remember where she puts things. A vague person is not able to think clearly, or gives an impression of not thinking clearly in InVagueness as a Political Strategy (2013),Giuseppina Scotto di Carlo observes that vagueness is "a pervasive phenomenon in natural language, as it seems to be expressed through nearly all linguistic categories." Cc quan im ca cc v d khng th hin quan im ca cc bin tp vin Cambridge Dictionary hoc ca Cambridge University Press hay ca cc nh cp php. not clear in shape, or not clearly seen: Through the mist I could just make out a vague figure. ", "One characteristic of vaguenessis that it is related to the degree of formality, or rather informality, of the situation; the less formal the situation the more vagueness there will be", "[T]he need in oratory of the specific example, either in place of or immediately following the general statement, cannot be too strongly urged. This question has several vague words, most of which would be missed by the vast majority adjective. saw a vague outline of a building through the fog. A. L. Kennedy. Webnot definitely established, determined, confirmed, or known; uncertain: a vague rumor; The date of his birth is vague. While all these words mean "not clearly understandable," vague implies a lack of clear formulation due to inadequate conception or consideration. Advocates of the fuzzy logic approach have included K. F. Machina (1976) [2] and Dorothy Edgington (1993). C1. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced searchad free! This predicate will not change the semantics of atomic statements (e.g. Esta oracin no es una traduccin de la original. 1. C2. Borderline cases are thought of as having a "truth-value" anywhere between 0 and 1 (for example, 0.6). ", "Use details. One's confusion about whether some vague word does or does not apply in a borderline case is due to one's ignorance. But Horrigan says the site weeds out red flags like vague or unlisted addresses. Even such apparently unambiguous concepts such as gender can be subject to vagueness problems, not just from transsexuals' gender transitions but also from certain genetic conditions which can give an individual mixed male and female biological traits (see intersex). WebC1. Although the words ambiguous and vague have much in common, ambiguous applies to language capable of more than one interpretation. ThoughtCo, Feb. 16, 2021, thoughtco.com/vagueness-language-1692483. vague adj (inattentive) impreciso/a adj : The student gave the teacher a vague "You seem to be as much at home here as in London," said Mrs. Armine, in a voice that was rather vague. not definite or clear synonyms for vague Compare Synonyms ambiguous dubious equivocal faint fuzzy hazy imprecise lax nebulous obscure uncertain unclear unsure amorphous Subvaluationism ultimately amounts to the claim that vagueness is a truly contradictory phenomenon. Webvague (7) Crossword Clue | Wordplays.com Advertisement vague (7) Crossword Clue The Crossword Solver found 54 answers to "vague (7)", 7 letters crossword clue. These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. More synonyms can be found below the puzzle answers. vago, vago/ga [masculine-feminine, singular], Th vn t vng ca bn vi cc cu hnh nh th v ca chng ti, To cc danh sch t v cu trc nghim min ph, Cc gii ngha r rng v ting Anh vit v ni t nhin, Cc gii thch v cch dng ca ting Anh vit v ni t nhin. A. L. Kennedy. Downtoning is the opposite of emphasising. a. : somewhat or slightly. 'pa pdd chac-sb tc-bd bw hbr-20 hbss lpt-25' : 'hdn'">. vaguer, vaguest. not definite or clear synonyms for vague Compare Synonyms ambiguous dubious equivocal faint fuzzy hazy imprecise lax nebulous obscure uncertain unclear unsure amorphous How to use a word that (literally) drives some pe Editor Emily Brewster clarifies the difference. C2. quotations Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for vaguely, Nglish: Translation of vaguely for Spanish Speakers. This shows grade level based on the word's complexity. synonyms: dim, faint, shadowy, wispy. Simon tuvo que sustituir al profesor de matemticas, a pesar de tener solo una vaga nocin de la materia. A vague person is not able to think clearly, or gives an impression of not Subvaluationism is the logical dual of supervaluationism, and has been defended by Dominic Hyde (2008) and Pablo Cobreros (2011). C2. Click the answer to find similar crossword clues . [10] They maintain that vague predicates do, in fact, draw sharp boundaries, but that one cannot know where these boundaries lie. Many scientific concepts are of necessity vague, for instance species in biology cannot be precisely defined, owing to unclear cases such as ring species. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors. A word is vague when it is not obvious to a respondent what referents (e.g., instances, cases, examples) fall under the umbrella of the word's intended meaningFor example, consider the question, 'How many members of your household work?' quotations synonym Synonym: dazed Lacking expression; vacant . Thesaurus / vague FEEDBACK vague See definition of vague on Dictionary.com adj. C1 not clear in shape, or not clearly seen This system has the consequence that borderline cases of vague terms yield statements that are neither true, nor false.[4]. Where would dark be a reasonable alternative to vague? vague adj (understanding) (comprensin) vago/a adj : incompleto/a adj : Simon had to stand in for the maths teacher, despite only having a vague knowledge of the subject. Cognate with Swedish vg (wave), Middle Dutch waeghe, wage (wave), Old High German wge (wave), Old English wg (wave, billow, motion, flood). Fuzzy logic proposes a gradual transition between "perfect falsity", for example, the statement "Bill Clinton is bald", to "perfect truth", for, say, "Patrick Stewart is bald". She was so bewildered as to be more alive to the present distress of his condition than to the vague horrors downstairs. Unfortunately, the early warning signals are kind of vague and nonspecific. A vague person is not able to think clearly, or gives an impression of not thinking clearly in order to hide their real thoughts: My aunt is incredibly vague - she can never remember where she puts things. Fine argues that borderline applications of vague predicates are neither true nor false, but rather are instances of "truth value gaps". Report an error or suggest an improvement. 449), As deaths surge, Sweden reverses its light touch approach to contain rising infections, Darren Wilson Wasnt Indictedthe System Was, The Right Wing Screams for the Wambulance Over Gay Marriage Ruling, 4 Science-Backed Ways to Motivate Yourself to Work Out, A Trailblazer in YA Dystopian Fiction: An Interview With 'The Giver' Author Lois Lowry. It is not clear: they are borderline cases of dogs. Simon tuvo que sustituir al profesor de matemticas, a pesar de tener solo una vaga nocin de la materia. synonyms Synonyms: vacant, vacuous Not sharply outlined; hazy . Vague (Crossword clue) We found 35 answers for Vague . C2. VAGUE Synonyms: 58 Synonyms & Antonyms for VAGUE | Thesaurus.com Find Out! 3. not clearly perceptible: vague murmurs. [6] Of a borderline case of "bald man" it would be both true and false to say that he is bald, and both true and false to say that he is not bald. In the common law system, vagueness is a possible legal defence against by-laws and other regulations. When could ambiguous be used to replace vague? The Crossword Solver finds answers to classic crosswords and cryptic crossword puzzles. A word is vague when it is not obvious to a respondent what referents (e.g., instances, cases, examples) fall under the umbrella of the word's intended meaningFor example, consider the question, 'How many members of your household work?' not clear in shape, or not clearly seen: Through the mist I could just make out a vague figure. adjective. But one would think he could have found a ghostwriter who had even the vaguest acquaintance with the subject matter. Nglish: Translation of vague for Spanish Speakers, Britannica English: Translation of vague for Arabic Speakers. Vagueness is a major topic of research in philosophical logic, where it serves as a potential challenge to classical logic. Learn a new word every day. vagueness uncountable noun the vagueness of the language in the text. vague (veg) adj. The legal principle is that delegated power cannot be used more broadly than the delegator intended. For instance the word "bank" is ambiguous since it can refer either to a river bank or to a financial institution, but there are no borderline cases between both interpretations. A vague person is not able to think clearly, or gives an impression of not thinking clearly in order to hide their real thoughts: My aunt is incredibly vague - she can never remember where she puts things. Suppose one wants to come up with a definition of "right" in the moral sense.