vaguely

adverb

vague·​ly ˈvāg-lē 

: in a vague way: such as

a

: somewhat or slightly

He's vaguely familiar with the area.

… men on foot, dressed vaguely like janitors …

—A. L. Kennedy

b

: not clearly

There were grants, he explained vaguely, that had to be spent before the money went back to the federal government, so my main job was to buy lavish art books, as quickly as possible.

—Michael Blaine

Where once the city was a battleground for two main militias … now at least five militias claim vaguely defined pockets as their own.

—Jeffrey Bartholet

I've always believed closers are like girlfriends: You remember the great ones, you remember the awful ones and you vaguely remember everyone in between. (You could say the same about hockey goalies and field goal kickers.)

—Bill Simmons

Examples of vaguely in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

McAlpine’s work was funny and forthright, but also vaguely elegiac. —Amanda Petrusich, The New Yorker, 17 June 2024

Federal officials vaguely promised to work with the city and its officers on some sort of resolution. —Joanna Allhands, The Arizona Republic, 14 June 2024

The agreement also shows two tables, vaguely describing Disney’s comprehensive plan of five major and five minor theme parks, though Disney has not commented on whether these numbers indicate an eventual goal of building that many parks in the area. —Natasha Chen, CNN, 12 June 2024

Contra is a classic, but Metal Slug is the mad king of retro, vaguely militaristic side-scrolling shooters. —Jordan Minor, PCMAG, 10 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1663, in the meaning defined above