Adjacent Words

Indefinite definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

INDEF'INITE, a. [L. indefinitus; in and definitus, definio, to define; de and finio, to end, finis, end.]
1. Not limited or defined; not determinate; not precise or certain; as an indefinite time. An indefinite proposition, term or phrase, is one which has not a precise meaning or limited signification.
2. That has no certain limits, or to which the human mind can affix none, as indefinite space. A space may be indefinite, though not infinite.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: vague or not clearly defined or stated; "must you be so indefinite?"; "amorphous blots of color having vague and indefinite edges"; "he would not answer so indefinite a proposal" [ant: definite]
2: not decided or not known; "were indefinite about their plans"; "plans are indefinite"

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Latin indefinitus, from in- + definitus definite Date: 1530 not definite: as a. typically designating an unidentified, generic, or unfamiliar person or thing <the indefinite articles a and an> <indefinite pronouns> b. not precise ; vague c. having no exact limits • indefinite noun • indefinitely adverb • indefiniteness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 vague, undefined. 2 unlimited. 3 Gram. not determining the person, thing, time, etc., referred to. Phrases and idioms: indefinite article see ARTICLE. indefinite integral see INTEGRAL. indefinite pronoun Gram. a pronoun indicating a person, amount, etc., without being definite or particular, e.g. any, some, anyone. Derivatives: indefiniteness n. Etymology: L indefinitus (as IN-(1), DEFINITE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Indefinite In*def"i*nite, a. [L. indefinitus. See In- not, and Definite.] 1. Not definite; not limited, defined, or specified; not explicit; not determined or fixed upon; not precise; uncertain; vague; confused; obscure; as, an indefinite time, plan, etc. It were to be wished that . . . men would leave off that indefinite way of vouching, ``the chymists say this,'' or ``the chymists affirm that.'' --Boyle. The time of this last is left indefinite. --Dryden. 2. Having no determined or certain limits; large and unmeasured, though not infinite; unlimited; as indefinite space; the indefinite extension of a straight line. Though it is not infinite, it may be indefinite; though it is not boundless in itself, it may be so to human comprehension. --Spectator. 3. Boundless; infinite. [R.] Indefinite and omnipresent God, Inhabiting eternity. --W. Thompson (1745). 4. (Bot.) Too numerous or variable to make a particular enumeration important; -- said of the parts of a flower, and the like. Also, indeterminate. Indefinite article (Gram.), the word a or an, used with nouns to denote any one of a common or general class. Indefinite inflorescence. (Bot.) See Indeterminate inflorescence, under Indeterminate. Indefinite proposition (Logic), a statement whose subject is a common term, with nothing to indicate distribution or nondistribution; as, Man is mortal. Indefinite term (Logic), a negative term; as, the not-good. Syn: Inexplicit; vague; uncertain; unsettled; indeterminate; loose; equivocal; inexact; approximate.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. If you describe a situation or period as indefinite, you mean that people have not decided when it will end. The trial was adjourned for an indefinite period. ADJ: usu ADJ n 2. Something that is indefinite is not exact or clear. ...at some indefinite time in the future. ADJ

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Indeterminate, undefined, undetermined, indistinct, confused. 2. Vague, obscure, doubtful, uncertain, equivocal, unsettled, unfixed, loose.

Moby Thesaurus

abstract, aleatoric, aleatory, ambiguous, amorphic, amorphous, anarchic, baffling, baggy, bewildering, bland, blear, bleared, bleary, blobby, blurred, blurry, boundless, broad, chance, chancy, chaotic, characterless, collective, confused, confusing, cryptic, dark, dim, disordered, disorderly, endless, enduring, equivocal, faint, featureless, feeble, filmy, foggy, formless, fuzzy, general, generalized, generic, half-seen, half-visible, hazy, hesitant, hit-or-miss, ill-defined, immeasurable, imprecise, inaccurate, incalculable, inchoate, incoherent, inconspicuous, inconstant, indecisive, indefinable, indelible, indestructible, indeterminable, indeterminate, indistinct, indistinguishable, ineffaceable, ineradicable, inexact, inexplicit, infinite, inform, kaleidoscopic, lax, limitless, loose, low-profile, lumpen, measureless, merely glimpsed, misty, mystifying, nebulous, neutral, nondescript, nonspecific, obscure, orderless, out of focus, pale, permanent, puzzling, random, semivisible, shadowed forth, shadowy, shapeless, shilly-shallying, stochastic, sub judice, sweeping, unbounded, uncertain, uncharacterized, unclear, uncountable, uncounted, undecided, undefinable, undefined, undestined, undestroyable, undetermined, undifferentiated, unerasable, unfixed, unknown, unlimited, unmeasured, unordered, unorganized, unplain, unrecognizable, unsettled, unspecific, unspecified, unsure, vacillating, vague, veiled, wavering, weak, wide, wishy-washy