indistinct

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The lights on the shore became indistinct, and he finally confused the two shores, and gave up hope of reaching the New York side, except by accident, and hoped only to reach some solid land alive.

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Definitions (11)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (4)

  1. adjective Not clearly or sharply delineated: an indistinct pattern; indistinct shapes in the gloom.
  2. adjective Faint; dim: indistinct stars.
  3. adjective Hazy; vague: an indistinct memory; an indistinct notion of how to proceed.

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Examples (50)

  • The Panther NATIVE NAMES.--_Chita_, Gorbacha_, Hindi; Beebeea-bagh_, Mahrathi; Bibla_, of the Chita-catchers; Ghur-hay or Dheer-hay of the hill tribes; Kerkal_, Canarese HABITAT.--India generally, Burmah and Ceylon, extending also into the Malayan countries Illustration: FELIS PANTHERA (_From a fine specimen in the Regent's Park Gardens DESCRIPTION.--Much smaller than the last, with comparatively shorter legs and rounder head; the fur is less bright; the ground-work often darker in colour, and the rosettes are more indistinct which is caused by the longer hairs intermingling and breaking into the edges of the spots; tail long and furry at the end. —  Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon
  • These features are very indistinct, and are just on the limit of visibility. —  Outlines of the Earth's History A Popular Study in Physiography
  • The light from the wall lamp was indistinct, and Bannon had to bend his head forward to see the figures. —  Calumet "K"
  • And so when the sense of our own movement becomes indistinct, as in a railway carriage, we naturally drift into the illusion that objects, such as trees, telegraph posts, and so on, are moving, when they are perfectly still. —  Illusions A Psychological Study
  • Yesterday her pencil marks were delightfully indistinct, and made the most charming confusion between cats and dogs and canary birds. —  Wych Hazel
 

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

hazy ·  dim ·  vague ·  muffle ·  unreal ·  inarticulate ·  nebulous ·  incoherent ·  fuzzy ·  ominous ·  shapeless ·  far-off
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (1)

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Middle English *indistinct (in adverb indistinctly); = F. Provencal indistinct = Spanish indistinto = Portuguese indistincto = Italian indistinto, from Latin indistinctus, not distinguishable, obscure, from in-privative + distinctus, distinct: see distinct.
 

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/ɪndɪsˈtɪŋkt/
by American Heritage

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