different between vague vs rambling

vague

English

Etymology

From Middle French vague, from Latin vagus (uncertain, vague, literally wandering, rambling, strolling).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ve??/
  • IPA(key): (Upper Midwest US) /væ?/
  • Rhymes: -e??, -æ?

Adjective

vague (comparative vaguer, superlative vaguest)

  1. Not clearly expressed; stated in indefinite terms.
    • 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.
    inarticulate, Synonym: unclear; see also Thesaurus:incomprehensible
  2. Not having a precise meaning.
    Synonyms: ambiguous, equivocal
  3. Not clearly defined, grasped, or understood; indistinct; slight.
    Synonyms: ambiguous, equivocal, indistinct, obscure; see also Thesaurus:vague
  4. Not clearly felt or sensed; somewhat subconscious.
  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.
    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
    Synonyms: erratic, roaming, unsettled, vagrant, vagabond

Related terms

Translations

Noun

vague (plural vagues)

  1. (obsolete) A wandering; a vagary.
  2. An indefinite expanse.
    • 1870, James Russell Lowell, The Cathedral
      The gray vague of unsympathizing sea.

Verb

vague (third-person singular simple present vagues, present participle vaguing, simple past and past participle 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.

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

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin vagus.

Pronunciation

  • (Balearic) IPA(key): /?va.??/
  • (Central) IPA(key): /?ba.??/
  • (Valencian) IPA(key): /?va.?e/

Adjective

vague (feminine vaga, masculine and feminine plural vagues)

  1. vague

Derived terms

  • vagament

Further reading

  • “vague” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
  • “vague” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
  • “vague” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
  • “vague” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology 1

From Middle French [Term?], from Old French vague (movement on the surface of a liquid, ripple), from Old Norse vágr (sea), from Proto-Germanic *w?gaz (wave, storm), from Proto-Indo-European *we??- (to drag, carry). Cognate with Swedish våg (wave), Middle Dutch waeghe, wage (wave), Old High German w?ge (wave), Old English w?g (wave, billow, motion, flood). More at waw, wave.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /va?/

Noun

vague f (plural vagues)

  1. wave
    • 2014, Indila, Comme un bateau
Derived terms
  • faire des vagues
  • vague de chaleur
  • vague de froid
  • vaguelette
  • vaguette

Etymology 2

From Middle French vague, from Latin vagus (uncertain, vague, literally wandering, rambling, strolling). Possibly a doublet of gai.

Adjective

vague (plural vagues)

  1. vague

Noun

vague m (plural vagues)

  1. vagueness
    Synonym: distrait
Derived terms
  • terrain vague
  • vague à l'âme
  • vaguement

Further reading

  • “vague” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Galician

Verb

vague

  1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive of vagar

Portuguese

Verb

vague

  1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of vagar
  2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of vagar
  3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of vagar
  4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of vagar

Spanish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /?ba?e/, [?ba.??e]

Verb

vague

  1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of vagar.
  2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of vagar.
  3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present subjunctive form of vagar.

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rambling

English

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA(key): /??æm.bl??/

Verb

rambling

  1. present participle of ramble

Adjective

rambling

  1. Of a speech: meandering, long and digressing.
  2. Confused and irregular; awkward.

Synonyms

  • (digressing): desultory

Translations

Noun

rambling (plural ramblings)

  1. A long meandering talk with no specific topic or direction.
    • 1941, Harold Sinclair, Years of Illusion (page 145)
      [] listening with great interest to Martha's ramblings about "The War."
  2. A gentle hike.

Derived terms

  • rambling rose

Translations

Anagrams

  • marbling

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