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Vague vs Rough - What's the difference?

vague | rough |

As verbs the difference between vague and rough

is that vague is while rough is to create in an approximate form.

As an adjective rough is

having a texture that has much friction not smooth; uneven.

As a noun rough is

the unmowed part of a golf course.

As an adverb rough is

in a rough manner; rudely; roughly.

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.

    rough

    English

    Alternative forms

    * (colloquial) ruff

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Having a texture that has much friction. Not smooth; uneven.
  • * 1922 , (Virginia Woolf), (w, Jacob's Room) Chapter 1
  • The rock was one of those tremendously solid brown, or rather black, rocks which emerge from the sand like something primitive. Rough with crinkled limpet shells and sparsely strewn with locks of dry seaweed, a small boy has to stretch his legs far apart, and indeed to feel rather heroic, before he gets to the top.
  • Approximate; hasty or careless; not finished.
  • a rough''' estimate; a '''rough sketch of a building
  • Turbulent.
  • The sea was rough .
  • Difficult; trying.
  • Being a teenager nowadays can be rough .
  • Crude; unrefined
  • His manners are a bit rough , but he means well.
  • Violent; not careful or subtle
  • This box has been through some rough handling.
  • Loud and hoarse; offensive to the ear; harsh; grating.
  • a rough''' tone; a '''rough voice
    (Alexander Pope)
  • Not polished; uncut; said of a gem.
  • a rough diamond
  • Harsh-tasting.
  • rough wine

    Antonyms

    * smooth

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The unmowed part of a golf course.
  • A rude fellow; a coarse bully; a rowdy.
  • (cricket) A scuffed and roughened area of the pitch, where the bowler's feet fall, used as a target by spin bowlers because of its unpredictable bounce.
  • The raw material from which faceted or cabochon gems are created.
  • A quick sketch, similar to a thumbnail, but larger and more detailed. Meant for artistic brainstorming and a vital step in the design process.
  • (obsolete) Boisterous weather.
  • (Fletcher)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To create in an approximate form.
  • Rough in the shape first, then polish the details.
  • To physically assault someone in retribution.
  • The gangsters roughed him up a little.
  • (ice hockey) To commit the offense of roughing, i.e. to punch another player.
  • To render rough; to roughen.
  • To break in (a horse, etc.), especially for military purposes.
  • (Crabb)

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • In a rough manner; rudely; roughly.
  • * Sir Walter Scott
  • Sleeping rough on the trenches, and dying stubbornly in their boats.

    Derived terms

    * bit of rough * diamond in the rough * rough and ready * roughhouse * rough in * roughness * rough out * rough up