Indefinite \In*def"i*nite\, a. [L. indefinitus. See In- not,
and Definite.]
[1913 Webster]
1. Not definite; not limited, defined, or specified; not
explicit; not determined or fixed upon; not precise;
uncertain; vague; confused; obscure; as, an indefinite
time, plan, etc.
[1913 Webster]
It were to be wished that . . . men would leave off
that indefinite way of vouching, "the chymists say
this," or "the chymists affirm that." --Boyle.
[1913 Webster]
The time of this last is left indefinite. --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
2. Having no determined or certain limits; large and
unmeasured, though not infinite; unlimited; as, indefinite
space; the indefinite extension of a straight line.
[1913 Webster]
Though it is not infinite, it may be indefinite;
though it is not boundless in itself, it may be so
to human comprehension. --Spectator.
[1913 Webster]
3. Boundless; infinite. [R.]
[1913 Webster]
Indefinite and omnipresent God,
Inhabiting eternity. --W. Thompson
(1745).
[1913 Webster]
4. (Bot.) Too numerous or variable to make a particular
enumeration important; -- said of the parts of a flower,
and the like. Also, indeterminate.
[1913 Webster]
Indefinite article (Gram.), the word a or an, used with
nouns to denote any one of a common or general class.
Indefinite inflorescence. (Bot.) See Indeterminate
inflorescence, under Indeterminate.
Indefinite proposition (Logic), a statement whose subject
is a common term, with nothing to indicate distribution or
nondistribution; as, Man is mortal.
Indefinite term (Logic), a negative term; as, the not-good.
Syn: Inexplicit; vague; uncertain; unsettled; indeterminate;
loose; equivocal; inexact; approximate.
[1913 Webster]
Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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134 Moby Thesaurus words for "indefinite":
abstract, aleatoric, aleatory, ambiguous, amorphic, amorphous,
anarchic, baffling, baggy, bewildering, bland, blear, bleared,
bleary, blobby, blurred, blurry, boundless, broad, chance, chancy,
chaotic, characterless, collective, confused, confusing, cryptic,
dark, dim, disordered, disorderly, endless, enduring, equivocal,
faint, featureless, feeble, filmy, foggy, formless, fuzzy, general,
generalized, generic, half-seen, half-visible, hazy, hesitant,
hit-or-miss, ill-defined, immeasurable, imprecise, inaccurate,
incalculable, inchoate, incoherent, inconspicuous, inconstant,
indecisive, indefinable, indelible, indestructible, indeterminable,
indeterminate, indistinct, indistinguishable, ineffaceable,
ineradicable, inexact, inexplicit, infinite, inform, kaleidoscopic,
lax, limitless, loose, low-profile, lumpen, measureless,
merely glimpsed, misty, mystifying, nebulous, neutral, nondescript,
nonspecific, obscure, orderless, out of focus, pale, permanent,
puzzling, random, semivisible, shadowed forth, shadowy, shapeless,
shilly-shallying, stochastic, sub judice, sweeping, unbounded,
uncertain, uncharacterized, unclear, uncountable, uncounted,
undecided, undefinable, undefined, undestined, undestroyable,
undetermined, undifferentiated, unerasable, unfixed, unknown,
unlimited, unmeasured, unordered, unorganized, unplain,
unrecognizable, unsettled, unspecific, unspecified, unsure,
vacillating, vague, veiled, wavering, weak, wide, wishy-washy
Source: Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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Indefinite \In*def"i*nite\, a. [L. indefinitus. See In- not,
and Definite.]
1. Not definite; not limited, defined, or specified; not
explicit; not determined or fixed upon; not precise;
uncertain; vague; confused; obscure; as, an indefinite
time, plan, etc.
It were to be wished that . . . men would leave off
that indefinite way of vouching, ``the chymists say
this,'' or ``the chymists affirm that.'' --Boyle.
The time of this last is left indefinite. --Dryden.
2. Having no determined or certain limits; large and
unmeasured, though not infinite; unlimited; as indefinite
space; the indefinite extension of a straight line.
Though it is not infinite, it may be indefinite;
though it is not boundless in itself, it may be so
to human comprehension. --Spectator.
3. Boundless; infinite. [R.]
Indefinite and omnipresent God, Inhabiting eternity.
--W. Thompson
(1745).
4. (Bot.) Too numerous or variable to make a particular
enumeration important; -- said of the parts of a flower,
and the like. Also, indeterminate.
Indefinite article (Gram.), the word a or an, used with
nouns to denote any one of a common or general class.
Indefinite inflorescence. (Bot.) See Indeterminate
inflorescence, under Indeterminate.
Indefinite proposition (Logic), a statement whose subject
is a common term, with nothing to indicate distribution or
nondistribution; as, Man is mortal.
Indefinite term (Logic), a negative term; as, the not-good.
Syn: Inexplicit; vague; uncertain; unsettled; indeterminate;
loose; equivocal; inexact; approximate.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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