indefiniteness.

1. A lack of precise specification, settled limits or a clearly fixed identity.

2. The grammatical property of not presenting a referent as identifiable to the listener or reader in context.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• indefiniteness of a proposal
• temporal indefiniteness

On the page

The proposal’s indefiniteness made its likely cost difficult to assess.

Temporal indefiniteness allowed the memory to remain detached from a precise date.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: Usually uncountable. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: style analysis, interpretation, characterization, rhetorical contrast. Disciplines: literary analysis, prose writing, advanced general English. Commonness: uncommon.