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

His delightful turn as the vaguely insufferable, do-gooding mayor in Eddington was there primarily to prod weirdo sheriff Joaquin Phoenix further into homicidal neurosis. — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 5 Oct. 2026

Apple had proved the idea, and suddenly some endless cheap players looked vaguely similar, promised the same basic job, and were usually exactly as good as their price suggested. — New Atlas, 2 Oct. 2026

From a distance roughly equivalent to the size of the plates, two rough-textured, vaguely oblong stones lean toward them. — Barry Schwabsky, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026

Behind him, against the restaurant’s white fence, is a vaguely biblical lime tree. — Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 28 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1663, in the meaning defined above