Vague vs Opaque - What's the difference?
vague | opaque |
Not clearly expressed; stated in indefinite terms.
*
*2004: , Character: Profiles in Presidential Courage
*: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.
:
Not clearly felt or sensed; somewhat subconscious.
:
Not thinking or expressing one’s thoughts clearly or precisely.
Lacking expression; vacant.
Not sharply outlined; hazy.
*{{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Michael Arlen), title=
, passage=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.}}
Wandering; vagrant; vagabond.
*Sir (c.1564-1627)
*:to set upon the vague villains
*(John Keats) (1795-1821)
*:She danced along with vague , regardless eyes.
(obsolete) A wandering; a vagary.
An indefinite expanse.
* Lowell
To wander; to roam; to stray.
* Holland
Neither reflecting nor emitting light.
Allowing little light to pass through, not translucent or transparent.
(figuratively) Unclear, unintelligible, hard to get or explain the meaning of
(figuratively) Obtuse, stupid.
(computing) Describes a type for which higher-level callers have no knowledge of data values or their representations; all operations are carried out by the type's defined abstract operators.
(obsolete, poetic) An area of darkness; a place or region with no light.
* 1745 , Edward Young, Night-Thoughts , I:
Something which is opaque rather than translucent.
To make, render (more) opaque.
As adjectives the difference between vague and opaque
is that vague is not clearly expressed; stated in indefinite terms while opaque is neither reflecting nor emitting light.As nouns the difference between vague and opaque
is that vague is a wandering; a vagary while opaque is an area of darkness; a place or region with no light.As verbs the difference between vague and opaque
is that vague is to wander; to roam; to stray while opaque is to make, render (more) opaque.vague
English
Adjective
(er)“Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days, chapter=Ep./1/2
Synonyms
* obscure * ambiguousNoun
(en noun)- (Holinshed)
- The gray vague of unsympathizing sea.
Verb
(vagu)- [The soul] doth vague and wander.
External links
* * * ----opaque
English
(wikipedia opaque)Alternative forms
* opakeAdjective
(en adjective)Antonyms
* (physically) see-through, translucent, transparent * (figuratively) clear, obvious, bright, brilliantUsage notes
* The comparative opaquer and superlative opaquest, though formed following valid rules for English, are much less common than more opaque' and ' most opaque and seem to occur more frequently in poetry.Derived terms
* opaquely * opaqueness * radiopaqueNoun
(en noun)- Through this opaque of Nature and of Soul, / This double night, transmit one pitying ray, / To lighten, and to cheer.