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Trenchant vs Vague - What's the difference?

trenchant | vague |

As an adjective trenchant

is (obsolete) fitted to trench or cut; gutting; sharp.

As a verb vague is

.

trenchant

English

Alternative forms

* trenchaunt (obsolete)

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • (obsolete) Fitted to trench or cut; gutting; sharp.
  • *1663 ,
  • *:The trenchant blade, Toledo trusty, / For want of fighting was grown rusty, / And ate into itself, for lack / Of somebody to hew and hack.
  • (figuratively) Keen]]; [[bite, biting; vigorously effective and articulate; severe; as, trenchant wit.
  • *1899 ,
  • *:His eyes, of the usual blue, were perhaps remarkably cold, and he certainly could make his glance fall on one as trenchant and heavy as an axe.

    • 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

    Related terms

    * vaguely (adverb) * vagueness (noun)

    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.

    External links

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