Adjacent Words

Indistinct definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

INDISTINCT', a. [L. indistinctus; in and distinctus. See Distinct.]
1. Not distinct or distinguishable; not separate in such a manner as to be perceptible by itself. The parts of a substance are indistinct, when they are so blended that the eye cannot separate them, or perceive them as separate. Sounds are indistinct, when the ear cannot separate them. Hence,
2. Obscure; not clear; confused; as indistinct ideas or notions.
3. Imperfect; faint; not presenting clear and well defined images; as indistinct vision; an indistinct view.
4. Not exactly discerning. [Unusual.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: not clearly defined or easy to perceive or understand; "indistinct shapes in the gloom"; "an indistinct memory"; "only indistinct notions of what to do" [ant: distinct]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Latin indistinctus, from in- + distinctus distinct Date: 1526 not distinct: as a. not sharply outlined or separable ; blurred <indistinct figures in the fog> b. faint, dim <an indistinct light in the distance> c. not clearly recognizable or understandable ; uncertain • indistinctly adverb • indistinctness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 not distinct. 2 confused, obscure. Derivatives: indistinctly adv. indistinctness n. Etymology: ME f. L indistinctus (as IN-(1), DISTINCT)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Indistinct In`dis*tinct", a. [L. indistinctus: cf. F. indistinct. See In- not, and Distinct.] 1. Not distinct or distinguishable; not separate in such a manner as to be perceptible by itself; as, the indistinct parts of a substance. ``Indistinct as water is in water.'' --Shak. 2. Obscure to the mind or senses; not clear; not definite; confused; imperfect; faint; as, indistinct vision; an indistinct sound; an indistinct idea or recollection. When we come to parts too small four our senses, our ideas of these little bodies become obscure and indistinct. --I. Watts. Their views, indeed, are indistinct and dim. --Cowper. Syn: Undefined; indistinguishable; obscure; indefinite; vague; ambiguous; uncertain; confused.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Something that is indistinct is unclear and difficult to see, hear, or recognize. The lettering is fuzzy and indistinct. ? distinct ADJ • indistinctly He speaks so indistinctly that many listeners haven't a clue what he is saying. ADV: ADV after v

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Undefined, ill-defined, indefinite, undistinguishable, confused, imperfectly distinguished. 2. Obscure, dim, vague, imperfect, faint. 3. Ambiguous, uncertain, doubtful.

Moby Thesaurus

aleatoric, aleatory, alike, ambiguous, amorphous, barely audible, blear, bleared, bleary, blind, blobby, blurred, blurry, breathy, broad, chance, chancy, chaotic, choked, choking, clear as mud, cloudy, confused, croaking, dark, decrescendo, dim, disordered, distant, drawling, drawly, dysphonic, equivocal, faint, faint-voiced, feeble, filmy, foggy, fuzzy, general, gentle, guttural, half-heard, half-seen, half-visible, harsh, hawking, hazy, hit-or-miss, hoarse, ill-defined, illegible, imprecise, inaccurate, inarticulate, inchoate, incoherent, inconspicuous, indecisive, indefinable, indefinite, indeterminable, indeterminate, indiscernible, indistinctive, indistinguishable, inexact, inseparable, interchangeable, lax, lisping, loose, low, low-profile, merely glimpsed, mispronounced, misty, muddy, muffled, murky, murmured, muzzy, nasal, nebulous, nonspecific, obscure, opaque, orderless, out of focus, pale, pianissimo, piano, quavering, random, scarcely heard, semivisible, shadowed forth, shadowy, shaking, shaky, shapeless, snuffling, soft, soft-sounding, soft-voiced, standard, stereotyped, stifled, stochastic, strangled, subaudible, subdued, sweeping, thick, throaty, transcendent, tremulous, twangy, uncertain, unclear, undefined, undestined, undetermined, undifferentiated, undiscriminated, undistinguishable, undistinguished, uniform, unintelligible, unplain, unrecognizable, unspecified, vague, veiled, velar, weak, weak-voiced, whispered, without distinction