vagueとは意味・読み方・使い方

発音

• IPA^(key): /veɪɡ/
• IPA^(key): (Upper Midwest 米国発音) /væɡ/
• 韻: -eɪɡ, -æɡ

形容詞

vague (comparative vaguer, superlative vaguest)

1. Not clearly expressed; stated in indefinite terms.
   • 1921, Bertrand Russell, The Analysis of Mind:

     It follows from what has been said that a vague thought has more likelihood of being true than a precise one. To try and hit an object with a vague thought is like trying to hit the bull's eye with a lump of putty: when the putty reaches the target, it flattens out all over it, and probably covers the bull's eye along with the rest. To try and hit an object with a precise thought is like trying to hit the bull's eye with a bullet. The advantage of the precise thought is that it distinguishes between the bull's eye and the rest of the target.

   • 2004: Chris Wallace, 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.

   Synonyms: inarticulate, unclear; see also Thesaurus:incomprehensible

2. Not having a precise meaning.

   a vague term of abuse

   Synonyms: ambiguous, equivocal

3. Not clearly defined, grasped, or understood; indistinct; slight.

   only a vague notion of what’s needed

   a vague hint of a thickening waistline

   I haven’t the vaguest idea.

   Synonyms: ambiguous, equivocal, indistinct, obscure; see also Thesaurus:vague

4. Not clearly felt or sensed; somewhat subconscious.

   a vague longing

5. Not thinking or expressing one’s thoughts clearly or precisely.
   • 1962, Philip Larkin, "Toads Revisited"

     Waxed-fleshed out-patients / Still vague from accidents, / And characters in long coats / Deep in the litter-baskets […]

   Synonym: dazed

6. Lacking expression; vacant.

   Synonyms: vacant, vacuous

7. Not sharply outlined; hazy.
   • 1922, Michael Arlen, “Ep./1/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:

     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.

   Synonyms: fuzzy, hazy, ill-defined; see also Thesaurus:indistinct

8. Wandering; vagrant; vagabond.
   • 1630, John Hayward, The Life and Raigne of King Edward VI

     The Lord Gray incourag'd his men to set sharply upon the vague villains

   • 1819, John Keats, “The Eve of St. Agnes”, in Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], published 1820, OCLC 927360557, stanza VIII, page 87:

     She danced along with vague, regardless eyes, / Anxious her lips, her breathing quick and short: [...]

   Synonyms: erratic, roaming, unsettled, vagrant, vagabond

関連する語

名詞

vague (複数形 vagues)

1. (obsolete) A wandering; a vagary.
   • 1577, Raphaell Holinshed, The Firste Volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande […], volume I, London: […] [Henry Bynneman] for Iohn Harrison, OCLC 55195564:

     the Scots had some leasure to plaie their vagues

2. An indefinite expanse.
   • 1870, James Russell Lowell, The Cathedral

     The gray vague of unsympathizing sea.

動詞

vague (三人称単数 現在形 vagues, 現在分詞 vaguing, 過去形および過去分詞形 vagued)

1. (archaic) to wander; to roam; to stray.
   • 1603, Philemon Holland (translator), The Philosophie, commonly called, the Morals

     [The soul] doth vague and wander.

2. To become vague or act in a vague manner.
   • 1894, Mrs. Campbell Praed, Christina Chard, page 52:

     Vaguely, yes. I've vagued all my life; that's been my curse.

   • 1939, John Steinbeck, East of Eden:

     A man's mind vagued up a little, for how can you remember the feel of pleasure or pain or choking emotion?

   • 2009, Zoe Foster Blake, Air Kisses, →ISBN:

     What's with you? You're all vagued out.

3. (Internet slang, intransitive) To make vague negative comments publicly; to make highly veiled complaints or insults.

   Synonym: vaguepost

Further reading

• “vague” in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• “vague” in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• vague at OneLook Dictionary Search