What's the difference between indeterminate and vague?

Indeterminate


Definition:

  • (a.) Not determinate; not certain or fixed; indefinite; not precise; as, an indeterminate number of years.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) This technique was applied to a discriminant function model using selected electroencephalographic sleep measures (sleep maintenance, percentage of rapid-eye-movement sleep, and percentage of indeterminate non-rapid-eye-movement sleep) in elderly patients with major depression or dementia of the Alzheimer type.
  • (2) The rapidity of obtaining the results (within one hour), the complete absence of untoward reactions to the radiopharmaceuticals, the much lower frequency of subtle or indeterminate results, the ability to render useful information in the presence of moderate jaundice and the lack of interference from overlying intestinal contents establishes these radionuclide agents as superior to both radiographic oral and intravenous cholangiography in the investigation of the acute abdomen.
  • (3) Two complementary tests were used: a radioimmunoprecipitation assay (RIPA) and a HIV EIA recombinant assay (ENVACOR) to check 53 of these indeterminate sera.
  • (4) After complete, high quality x-ray mammography, a palpable mass or nonpalpable mammographic abnormality may remain indeterminate in etiology, and ultrasound may be useful as an adjunctive diagnostic modality.
  • (5) For the antibody-negative specimens, 90.3% of the results were interpreted as negative, 1.3% as positive, and 8.4% as indeterminate.
  • (6) David Anderson QC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation and a man you should always take seriously, believes there is a "small but indeterminate category of national security-related claims" in which closed hearings would be justified.
  • (7) Until recently it has been difficult to counsel blood donors with human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1)-indeterminate Western blot results due to a lack of information concerning the significance of this finding.
  • (8) Among Group 3 two target lesions could not be identified on specimen radiographs and one was indeterminate.
  • (9) As each microregion contains an unknown amount of embedding medium, this quantity generally lies indeterminately somewhere within the wide range between mmol of element per kg of hydrated tissue and mmol of element per kg of dehydrated tissue.
  • (10) Of the 12 children with continued indeterminate HIV-1 status, eight showed neither slgA nor serologic evidence of infection and four showed slgA antibodies.
  • (11) In the third case, which on gray-scale imaging appeared as an indeterminate cystic structure of the cord, color Doppler imaging demonstrated a complex abnormal vascular pattern suggestive of an angiomyxoma.
  • (12) Twenty six type strains were readily grouped, the oxidase positive, the oxidase negative, and the oxidase indeterminate groups.
  • (13) Clinical results included 18 cures, 3 improvements, 2 indeterminates, and 6 failures.
  • (14) No serum specimen collected after 2-11 months from individuals with indeterminate Western blot results was positive by EIA or Western blot.
  • (15) Of 198 patients who had colectomy or proctocolectomy because of inflammatory bowel disease, 52% had ulcerative colitis and 37% had Crohn's disease, 11% were indeterminable according to histologic evaluation of the surgical specimens.
  • (16) Physicians have generally remained passive or intransigent as the society in which they function attempts to compensate for the indeterminate nature of these clinical questions.
  • (17) Sixty-six patients had normal lung scans, 29 had high-probability defects suggestive of PE, and 21 had indeterminate-probability of PE.
  • (18) The cumulative patency rate at 5 years was 80% in the atherosclerosis group, 89% in the FMD group, and 74% in the indeterminate group.
  • (19) The results suggest that Chagas' disease in rhesus monkeys reproduces the acute and indeterminate phases of human Chagas' disease.
  • (20) In a large number of cases the initial manifestations are those of the indeterminate form and, in an even larger number of cases, of the tuberculoid pole.

Vague


Definition:

  • (v. i.) Wandering; vagrant; vagabond.
  • (v. i.) Unsettled; unfixed; undetermined; indefinite; ambiguous; as, a vague idea; a vague proposition.
  • (v. i.) Proceeding from no known authority; unauthenticated; uncertain; flying; as, a vague report.
  • (n.) An indefinite expanse.
  • (v. i.) To wander; to roam; to stray.
  • (n.) A wandering; a vagary.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) In view of its infrequent and vague presentation, care is required to avoid overlooking the diagnosis of abdominal tuberculosis, particularly in the immigrant population.
  • (2) Congenital defect of a cervical pedicle produces a rare clinical syndrome with a characteristic X-ray picture associated with vague clinical signs often accentuated after trauma.
  • (3) Such an explanation not only remains vague and speculative but deserves criticism also for being incomplete.
  • (4) What are New York values?” he asked the crowd, alluding to Cruz’s vague denigration of those “liberal” values in a January debate.
  • (5) Chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is an autoimmune disorder in which the abnormality in cellular immunity has remained only vaguely defined.
  • (6) The family physician who sees many children with vague abdominal pain must include peptic ulcer disease in the differential diagnosis.
  • (7) The remaining patients had vague pains, tender abdomen, constitutional symptoms or a mass in the abdomen.
  • (8) The system was "flawed" and the rules were "vague".
  • (9) The Japanese preferred alternative was to give a vague alternative diagnosis such as neurasthenia.
  • (10) Veering between a patronising video , a vague report and impenetrable financial data does not amount to openness and accountability.
  • (11) "In addition, the Department for Communities and Local Government [DCLG] has failed to provide the council with any cost estimates for the audit apart from the vague statement that costs are likely to be 'within £1m'.
  • (12) The diagnosis of leptospirosis is often difficult to make because of vague and mild symptoms.
  • (13) Since the day of action was announced, there has been a new mood in the group; some people talk somewhat vaguely about Tunisia and Egypt; mass protest is in the air.
  • (14) A case is reported where pneumoperitoneum developed after the surgical procedure with vague abdominal symptoms accompanied by fever and leukocytosis.
  • (15) This feature of ILC may also help explain why tumors may be palpable as areas of vague induration or thickening rather than as discrete masses.
  • (16) A 57-year-old man was admitted with the complaints of vague headache and left upper limb numbness.
  • (17) Polling suggests that people prefer the Conservatives on immigration because they expect them to be "tougher" in some vague, generic sense, rather than because they believe in their policies.
  • (18) As biological discharge phenomena evolve into vague psychological awareness, such an infant does not attain a sense of well-being, but rather attains a sense of "not-well-being" (Joffe and Sandler, 1965) which remains continuous or can be triggered--kindled--by any reactivating constellation, and the object is experienced as a source of unpleasure.
  • (19) The only time I see him in even vague bad humour is when a wardrobe assistant tries to neaten a dancer's hair.
  • (20) The concept of fuzzy sets was chosen for its ability to represent classes of objects that are vaguely described from the measured data.