imprecise

imprecise — adjective

1. not giving or having enough detail or exactness, so that the information or resu

1.形容詞B2
釋義

not giving or having enough detail or exactness, so that the information or result may not be fully reliable or clear

例句

The weather forecast was too imprecise to tell us whether to bring an umbrella.

too + adjective + to-infinitive for insufficient precision

His imprecise description of the suspect made it hard for the police to identify him.

adjective used attributively before a noun: imprecise description

同義詞
  • vague

    suggests a lack of clear boundaries or definition; vagueness often comes from missing essential information, whereas imprecise implies the information exists but is not fine-grained enough

  • inexact

    the mildest and most neutral synonym; simply acknowledges that something is not perfectly accurate, without implying it is unusable

  • inaccurate

    stronger than imprecise — means wrong or incorrect, not just lacking detail

  • ambiguous

    focuses on the possibility of more than one interpretation, while imprecise focuses on a lack of exactness

反義詞
  • precise

    exact and accurate in every detail

  • exact

    correct in every detail, perfectly matching the facts or true value

  • accurate

    correct in all details, free from error

文法句型

imprecise + noun

be + imprecise

imprecise about + noun / wh-clause

用法筆記

Frequently describes measurements, estimates, language, descriptions, and calculations in academic, technical, or formal contexts. The opposite is precise — imprecise information may be roughly correct but lacks the level of detail needed for a specific purpose.

常見錯誤

His estimate was inaccurate by about 10%' (when the estimate was roughly correct but not exact).
His estimate was imprecise
💡he could only say it was somewhere between 100 and 150.' — 'inaccurate' means completely wrong; 'imprecise' means not exact or detailed enough.