vague

VAYG/veɪɡ/

10 meanings of vague

1
adjective
Not clearly or precisely expressed; lacking specific detail or a definite meaning.
The minister gave a vague reply that committed him to nothing.
Her instructions were too vague for the crew to follow safely.
UsageOften vague about something: he was vague about the details.
Similarindefinite
Oppositeclear, precise, specific, explicit
Note
Here the fuzziness lies in how something is put, and the word describes speakers as readily as statements: officials who are vague offer little in the way of hard facts. Bertrand Russell defended such looseness in The Analysis of Mind (1921): a vague thought is likelier to be true than a precise one, as thrown putty is likelier to hit the target. The word also covers a term whose meaning is itself imprecise.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
Bertrand Russell wrote The Analysis of Mind, published in 1921. en.wikipedia.org
Russell argued that a vague thought is more likely to be true than a precise one. gutenberg.org
Russell illustrated this argument by comparing vague thought to putty spreading across a target and covering its bull's-eye. gutenberg.org
2
adjective
Not clearly perceived, remembered, felt, or understood; indistinct or faint in the mind.
The witness could offer only a vague recollection of the driver's face.
Most voters have only a vague understanding of what the city council actually does.
UsageOften a vague idea, notion or memory; not the vaguest idea means no idea at all.
Similarhazy, faint, dim, fuzzy, indistinct
Oppositeclear, vivid, distinct, sharp
3
blurryadjective
Not sharply outlined; blurred or hazy in appearance.
Through the rain the streetlights were only vague smears of yellow.
A vague smudge of land appeared where the coast should have been.
Similarhazy, fuzzy, dim, indistinct, obscure
Oppositesharp, distinct, clear, crisp
4
adjective
(Of a person or their manner) not thinking or expressing thoughts clearly; absent-minded, sometimes with a blank, vacant look.
The professor was brilliant but maddeningly vague in conversation.
He grew vague and distracted whenever the subject of work came up.
UsageOften after be, grow, seem or get: Grandpa gets vague when tired.
Similarabsent-minded, distracted, vacant, dreamy
Oppositealert, focused, sharp
Note
The vagueness now belongs to a person's mind rather than to words. Philip Larkin's "Toads Revisited", in The Whitsun Weddings (1964), describes hospital out-patients whose minds are hazy after mishaps, which is why dazed sits close by. The sense covers a passing fog after shock as well as a settled habit of fuzzy thinking.

Less common meanings

5
complain indirectlyverbslangintransitive
To make veiled negative comments or complaints publicly, without naming the target.
Coworkers who vague on social media only poison the office mood.
Instead of confronting him, she chose to vague in cryptic posts all week.
UsageUse vague about someone for the target, or vague on social media for the platform.
6
lose focusverbintransitive
To become vague, or to behave in an unclear, unfocused way.
After the long drive, I vagued out on the couch and couldn't follow a word of the movie.
She started to vague out halfway through the meeting, staring at the window instead of her notes.
UsageOften vague out: I vagued out on the couch. The forms are vaguing and vagued.
Similarwaffle, flounder, equivocate
Note
A loose, expressive verb that often takes a particle. Steinbeck's East of Eden (1952) has a mind that "vagued up a little", and Zoe Foster Blake's Air Kisses has someone "all vagued out". Mrs. Campbell Praed's "I've vagued all my life" (1893) uses it bare.
7
adjectivearchaic
Wandering or roaming; having no fixed home, like a vagrant.
The Lord Gray incourag'd his men to set sharply upon the vague villains
1630, John Hayward, The Life and Raigne of King Edward VI
Similarroaming, unsettled, vagrant, vagabond
Oppositesettled, sedentary
Note
The sense closest to the word's root. It comes through Middle French from Latin vagus, which meant "uncertain" but literally "wandering, rambling, strolling". John Hayward's "vague villains" (1630) are roving bands. In Keats's "The Eve of St. Agnes" (1820), "vague, regardless eyes" blur the line: the eyes wander, but they also edge toward the vacant look.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 7 facts
English vague comes through Middle French from Latin vagus. en.wiktionary.org
Latin vagus has literal meanings involving wandering and a figurative meaning 'uncertain', supporting the connection with the wandering sense. en.wiktionary.org
Latin vagus can mean 'uncertain'. en.wiktionary.org
John Hayward's relevant work was published in 1630. loc.gov
Hayward used 'vague villains' in the wandering or vagrant sense. en.wiktionary.org
John Keats wrote The Eve of St. Agnes, published in the 1820 volume. gutenberg.org
The poem contains 'vague, regardless eyes', describing Madeline in the narrator's words. gutenberg.org
8
verbarchaic
To wander, roam, or stray from place to place.
[The soul] doth vague and wander.
1603, Philemon Holland, The Philosophie
Note
An archaic verb that is at home only in imitations of older prose. Philemon Holland's translation The Philosophie, commonly called, the Morals (1603) says the soul "doth vague and wander", pairing it with its plainer twin. It is a cousin of the "wandering" adjective, both going back to Latin. In modern writing, wander or roam does the job without sounding antique.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
Philemon Holland translated The Philosophie, commonly called, the Morals, first published in 1603. en.wiktionary.org
The translation describes the soul using the words “doth vague and wander”, pairing the two verbs. en.wiktionary.org
The adjective comes from Middle French vague, from Latin vagus; it is not derived from the English verb. en.wiktionary.org
9
nounobsolete
An act of wandering; a vagary or whim.
the Scots had some leasure to plaie their vagues
1577, Raphaell Holinshed, The Firste Volume of the Chronicles of England
Note
An obsolete noun that is best left to historical writing. Raphaell Holinshed's Chronicles (1577) has the Scots at leisure "to plaie their vagues", off on their wanderings. Modern English keeps the idea in vagary, and that is the word to reach for. Used as a noun today, a vague will read as a mistake.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Raphaell Holinshed's Chronicles was first published in 1577. gutenberg.org
The Chronicles describes the Scots as having leisure “to plaie their vagues”. en.wiktionary.org
10
nounrare
An indefinite, boundless expanse.
The gray vague of unsympathizing sea.
1870, James Russell Lowell, The Cathedral

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of vague apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

Latin vagus meant "uncertain, vague," and literally "wandering, rambling, strolling." It passed into Middle French as vague, which English took over.