MEANING
Not exact, detailed, or sharply defined enough for the purpose.
Use it for
qualifying an estimate with a wide range of uncertainty; criticizing language that fails to state a clear distinction; distinguishing limited precision from demonstrated inaccuracyDistinguishes insufficient exactness from an assertion that an estimate or description is false. Academic functions: Evidence, Qualification / Uncertainty, Significance / Scope.
Words that belong together
- an imprecise estimate
- imprecise wording
- an imprecise measure
On the page
The estimate is imprecise because the available observations permit a wide range of plausible values.
Imprecise wording obscures whether the claim concerns every case or only the observed sample.
Nearby words
Opposite meanings
Word forms
- Base
- imprecise
Usage notes
Attributive or predicative. More imprecise and most imprecise are natural. Register: neutral. Commonness: moderately common (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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