Vague vs Coax - What's the difference?
vague | coax |
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
(obsolete) To fondle, kid, pet, tease.
To wheedle, persuade (a person, organisation, animal etc.) gradually or by use of flattery to do something.
* , chapter=6
, title= * 12 July 2012 , Sam Adams, AV Club Ice Age: Continental Drift
To carefully manipulate into a particular desired state, situation or position.
* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author=(Henry Petroski)
, title= (obsolete) A simpleton; a dupe.
As verbs the difference between vague and coax
is that vague is while coax is (obsolete) to fondle, kid, pet, tease.As a noun coax is
(obsolete) a simpleton; a dupe or coax can be .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
* * * ----coax
English
Etymology 1
originally (1586) in the slang phrase to make a coax of , from earlier noun coax, cox, cokes "fool, simpleton", itself of obscure origin, perhaps related to cock (male bird, pert boy). The modern spelling is from 1706.Verb
Mr. Pratt's Patients, passage=She was so mad she wouldn't speak to me for quite a spell, but at last I coaxed her into going up to Miss Emmeline's room and fetching down a tintype of the missing Deacon man.}}
- On paper, Continental Drift boasts a jaw-dropping voice cast, including but not limited to Jennifer Lopez, Patrick Stewart, Wanda Sykes, Aziz Ansari, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Nicki Minaj, Drake, and Alan Tudyk. But in practice, the overstuffed ensemble leaves the cast no room to distinguish themselves, and directors Steve Martino and Michael Thurmeier don’t seem interested in coaxing performances that might render their money stars less identifiable.
Geothermal Energy, volume=101, issue=4, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame.}}
Synonyms
* (persuade gradually) cajole, persuade, wheedle * (manipulate carefully into position) easeNoun
(es)- (Beaumont and Fletcher)