Klryz
Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iːseeɪsite / ɛbedæcat
ɑːfatherɒhot (UK)ɔːlawʊput
uːtooʌcupɜːbirdəabout
eɪdayaɪmyɔɪboyaʊnow
əʊ / oʊgo (UK / US)ɪəneareəhairʊətour

Consonants that look unusual

θthinðthisʃsheʒmeasure
tʃchurchdʒjudgeŋsingjyes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

Marks

  • ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
  • ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

Common word endings

  • -s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
  • -ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
  • -ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
  • Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
  • Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

English Dictionary · 107,383 entries · Sources & licences

vague

/veɪɡ/ adjective, noun, verb

Forms vaguer vaguest vagues vaguing vagued

  1. adjective Not clearly expressed; stated in indefinite terms.
  2. adjective Not having a precise meaning. “a vague term of abuse”
  3. adjective Not clearly defined, grasped, or understood; indistinct; slight. “only a vague notion of what’s needed”
  4. adjective Not clearly felt or sensed; somewhat subconscious. “a vague longing”
  5. adjective Not thinking or expressing one’s thoughts clearly or precisely.
  6. adjective Lacking expression; vacant.
  7. adjective Not sharply outlined; hazy.
  8. adjective Wandering; vagrant; vagabond.
  9. noun An indefinite expanse.
  10. noun (obsolete) A wandering; a vagary.
  11. verb (archaic) to wander; to roam; to stray.
  12. verb To become vague or act in a vague manner.
  13. verb (Internet slang, intransitive) To make vague negative comments publicly; to make highly veiled complaints or insults.

Synonyms

inarticulate unclear abstruse Chinese dense enigmatic fathomless bottomless Greek inapprehensible incognizable incomprehensible ineffable inenubilable inexplicable impenetrable insensible inscrutable insoluble insolvable obscure undefined dim faint shadowy wispy

Antonyms

certain clear definable defined determinate definite distinct exact perspicuous precise

Etymology

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

Webster’s 1913

  1. adjective Wandering; vagrant; vagabond. [Archaic] "To set upon the vague villains." Hayward.
  2. adjective Unsettled; unfixed; undetermined; indefinite; ambiguous; as, a vague idea; a vague proposition.
  3. noun An indefinite expanse. [R.]
  4. verb To wander; to roam; to stray. [Obs.] "[The soul] doth vague and wander." Holland.

Etymology [F. vague, or L. vagus. See Vague, v. i.]

Etymology [Cf. F. vague.]

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “vague”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details

Sanskrit

Sanskrit dictionary entries whose meaning includes “vague” (best matches first).