different between vague vs safe

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.

English

Etymology

From Middle English sauf, safe, saf, saaf, from Old French sauf, saulf, salf (“safe”), from Latin salvus (“whole, safe”), from Proto-Indo-European *solh?- (“whole, every”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: s?f, IPA^(key): /se?f/
• Rhymes: -e?f
• Hyphenation: safe

Adjective

safe (comparative safer or more safe, superlative safest or most safe)

1. Not in danger; out of harm's reach.

2. Free from risk.

   Synonyms: riskless, harmless

   Antonyms: harmful, dangerous

3. Providing protection from danger; providing shelter.

4. (baseball) When a batter successfully reaches first base, or when a baserunner successfully advances to the next base or returns to the base he last occupied; not out.

5. Properly secured.

   Synonym: secure

   Hyponyms: binary-safe, fail-safe, thread-safe, type-safe

6. (used after a noun, often forming a compound) Not susceptible to a specified source of harm.

7. (Britain, slang) Great, cool, awesome, respectable; a term of approbation, often as interjection.

   Synonyms: wicked, cool; see also Thesaurus:awesome
8. (slang) Lenient, usually describing a teacher that is easy-going.

   Synonyms: easy-going, merciful, tolerant, lenient

   Antonyms: strict, harsh, intolerant

9. Reliable; trusty.

   Synonym: trustworthy

10. Cautious.
11. (programming) Of a programming language, type-safe or more generally offering well-defined behavior despite programming errors.

Antonyms

• unsafe

Translations

Noun

safe (plural safes)

1. A box, usually made of metal, in which valuables can be locked for safekeeping.
2. (slang) A condom.
   • 1999, Rita Ciresi, Pink Slip, Delta (1999), ?ISBN, page 328:

     She'd better have an arsenal of Trojans in her purse just in case he wasn't carrying a safe in his back pocket.

3. (dated) A ventilated or refrigerated chest or closet for securing provisions from noxious animals or insects.
4. (dated, colloquial) A safety bicycle.

Synonyms

• (box for storing valuables): coffer, lockbox, strongbox
• (condom): see also Thesaurus:condom.

Hyponyms

• failsafe

Translations

Verb

safe (third-person singular simple present safes, present participle safing, simple past and past participle safed)

1. (transitive) To make something safe.

Derived terms

Related terms

• better safe than sorry
• Coolgardie safe

See also

• save
• safety

References

• safe on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• EFAs, FAEs, faes

Hausa

Adverb

s?fe

1. in the morning

Middle English

Adjective

safe

1. Alternative form of sauf

Preposition

safe

1. Alternative form of sauf

Conjunction

safe

1. Alternative form of sauf

Portuguese

Verb

safe

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