Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adverb In an imprecise manner.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adverb in an imprecise manner

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

imprecise +‎ -ly

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Examples

  • But some reporters have used the term imprecisely, conveying the idea that a fatwa is the equivalent of a death sentence, or indiscriminately, using the term to describe what many would argue are political statements by terrorist groups, rather than religious rulings.

    lsj.com - News 2009

  • I then given an example, which Kevin imprecisely describes as “a dumb email [Bernstein] received that used the term both incorrectly and insultingly.”

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Likudnik, Part II: 2004

  • We laypeople tend to use the word imprecisely to allude to fragility or vulnerability in old people, but for physicians and researchers, frailty is a specific medical syndrome with measurable criteria.

    NYT > Home Page By PAULA SPAN 2010

  • Appended to the very top of that article is now a correction which, more or less, acknowledges that the original article "imprecisely" described the provisions of the bill.

    The completely unreliable Washington Post Glenn Greenwald 2006

  • Appended to the very top of that article is now a correction which, more or less, acknowledges that the original article "imprecisely" described the provisions of the bill.

    Archive 2006-06-01 Glenn Greenwald 2006

  • An earlier version of this article referred imprecisely to the geographical reach of the rally.

    Rally to Restore Authority James Taranto 2010

  • Though Spock had long ago accepted the reality—indeed, the necessity—of the feelings his mind generated, and though he regularly allowed himself to experience what he imprecisely regarded as his “human half,” he still sustained considerable control over his internal life.

    Star Trek: Typhon Pact: Rough Beasts of Empire David R. George III 2011

  • When I wrote, imprecisely, that domestic subsidies for agricultural commodities are equivalent to protective tariffs, I was groping at the notion that in both cases (1) domestic consumers/taxpayers pay a premium above the world price and (2) that foreign producers are discouraged from entering the domestic market.

    The Case for Free Trade, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009

  • But war is easy to criticize – the inhumanity of, as hell, done imperfectly/imprecisely, its inherent chauvinism and “unfairness,” etc.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » The Changing Conflict in Pakistan, and Targeted Killing 2010

  • And I spoke imprecisely, and have been corrected: “A boat floats because it (including its load) weighs exactly as much as the water it displaces …”

    Matthew Yglesias » Wonks and Teachers 2009

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