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Vague vs Inexact - What's the difference?

vague | inexact | Related terms |

As adjectives the difference between vague and inexact

is that vague is not clearly expressed; stated in indefinite terms while inexact is imperfectly conforming; exceeding or falling short in some respect.

As a noun vague

is a wandering; a vagary.

As a verb vague

is to wander; to roam; to stray.

vague

English

Adjective

(er)
  • 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= “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days, chapter=Ep./1/2
  • , 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.
  • Synonyms

    * obscure * ambiguous

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) A wandering; a vagary.
  • (Holinshed)
  • An indefinite expanse.
  • * Lowell
  • The gray vague of unsympathizing sea.

    Verb

    (vagu)
  • To wander; to roam; to stray.
  • * Holland
  • [The soul] doth vague and wander.

    inexact

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Imperfectly conforming; exceeding or falling short in some respect.
  • Imprecisely or indefinitely conceived or stated
  • (physics, of a differential) having a path-dependent integral
  • Synonyms

    * (imperfectly conforming) imperfect, imprecise * (imprecisely or indefinitely conceived or stated) loose

    Antonyms

    * (precisely agreeing) exact, perfect, precise * (precisely or definitely conceived or stated) exact, strict * (having a path-dependent integral) exact