indefinite

Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Acronyms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
Related to indefinite: Indefinite pronouns

indefinite

adjective alterable, ambiguous, ambiguus, amorphic, amorphous, barely seen, blurred, blurry, broad, changeable, cloudy, controvertible, cryptic, dim, doubtful, dubious, dubius, enigmatic, equivocal, evasive, faint, formless, ill-defined, imperspicuous, imprecise, in doubt, incertus, indecisive, indistinct, indistinguishable, inexact, mysterious, nondescript, nonspecific, not positive, not sharp, obscure, opaque, open to question, oracular, questionable, shapeless, subject to change, suppositional, theoretical, unascertained, unbounded, uncertain, unclear, undecided, undefined, undetermined, undiscernible, unintelligible, unlimited, unresolved, unsettled, unstable, unsure, untold, vague
Associated concepts: indefinite contract, indefinite failure of issue, indefinite liability, indefinite sentence

INDEFINITE. That which is undefined; uncertain.

INDEFINITE, NUMBER. A number which may be increased or diminished at pleasure.
2. When a corporation is composed of an indefinite number of persons, any number of them consisting of a majority of those present may do any act unless it be otherwise regulated by the charter or by-laws. See Definite number.

LEGACY, INDEFINITE. A bequest of things which are not enumerated or ascertained as to numbers or quantities; as, a bequest by a testator of all his goods, all his stocks in the funds. Lownd. on Leg. 84; Swinb. 485; Amb. 641; 1 P. Wms. 697.

References in classic literature ?

Is an indefinite power to raise money dangerous in the hands of the federal government?

View in context

Pluto had not a white hair upon any portion of his body; but this cat had a large, although indefinite splotch of white, covering nearly the whole region of the breast.

View in context

Almost every devout admirer of the old bards, if demanded his opinion of their productions, would mention vaguely, yet with perfect sincerity, a sense of dreamy, wild, indefinite, and he would perhaps say, indefinable delight; on being required to point out the source of this so shadowy pleasure, he would be apt to speak of the quaint in phraseology and in general handling.

View in context

Not quite sure of her direction Tess stood still upon the hemmed expanse of verdant flatness, like a fly on a billiard-table of indefinite length, and of no more consequence to the surroundings than that fly.

View in context

The newcomer was a short, large-boned, yellow-faced, wrinkled old man, with gray bushy eyebrows overhanging bright eyes of an indefinite grayish color.

View in context

He continually deferred the final steps; in the midst of his fears, like many a man who is in danger of shipwreck or of being dashed from his carriage by runaway horses, he had a clinging impression that something would happen to hinder the worst, and that to spoil his life by a late transplantation might be over-hasty--especially since it was difficult to account satisfactorily to his wife for the project of their indefinite exile from the only place where she would like to live.

View in context

I wondered what was the matter, and felt an indefinite dread that something unpleasant was on his mind; and vague surmises, concerning what it might be, troubled me not a little, and made me grave and silent enough.

View in context

She imagined some half dozen women in love with him and thought he must lean dangerously toward an indefinite one, whom she pictured with great charms of person, but with an altogether contemptible disposition.

View in context

peace was signed between the survivors of the war; the thunder of the guns gradually ceased, the mortars were silent, the howitzers were muzzled for an indefinite period, the cannon, with muzzles depressed, were returned into the arsenal, the shot were repiled, all bloody reminiscences were effaced; the cotton-plants grew luxuriantly in the well-manured fields, all mourning garments were laid aside, together with grief; and the Gun Club was relegated to profound inactivity.

View in context

An indefinite repetition of the same part or organ is the common characteristic (as Owen has observed) of all low or little-modified forms; therefore we may readily believe that the unknown progenitor of the vertebrata possessed many vertebrae; the unknown progenitor of the articulata, many segments; and the unknown progenitor of flowering plants, many spiral whorls of leaves.

View in context

32: "The sole permissible formula is this: Intelligence progresses from the indefinite to the definite.

View in context

On his head there was a wreck of a hat of indefinite form, but his gun of a new patent was a perfect gem, and his game bag and cartridge belt, though worn, were of the very best quality.