ill-defined
ill-defined — adjective
1. not clearly described, explained, or understood; lacking a precise meaning or se
not clearly described, explained, or understood; lacking a precise meaning or set of limits — for example, an ill-defined role at work, or an ill-defined concept in an academic paper.
The responsibilities of Ana's new role were ill-defined, so she often did other teams' work.
subject often a role, goal, or concept
Some contract terms were ill-defined, so Dr. Okafor asked a lawyer for help.
The project failed because its aims had been left deliberately ill-defined from the start.
Without a proper strategy, the organisation's vision remained ill-defined and failed to motivate the staff.
The border between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour in the workplace often remains ill-defined.
- well-defined
direct opposite; describes something with clear limits or meaning
- clear
more general; describes something easy to understand or see
文法句型
be + ill-defined
remain + ill-defined
leave + object + ill-defined
用法筆記
Frequently used with abstract nouns such as role, goal, concept, boundary, vision, policy, or terms. Common in academic, business, and formal writing contexts, where it describes something that has not been thought through or agreed upon clearly enough.
常見錯誤
2. having edges, outlines, or borders that are not sharp enough to be seen distinct
having edges, outlines, or borders that are not sharp enough to be seen distinctly — for example, an ill-defined shape in a photograph, or an ill-defined shadow on a medical scan.
In the evening light, the footpath's edges became ill-defined and hard to see.
physical edges become ill-defined in poor light
The old map's borders were ill-defined, so the students could not agree on who owned the region.
The chest X-ray revealed an ill-defined shadow near the patient's right lung, requiring further tests.
The blurry photo made the mountain ridge look ill-defined against the grey clouds.
- indistinct
can describe both sight and sound; 'ill-defined' is primarily visual
- blurred
suggests a smeared or unfocused appearance; stronger than 'ill-defined'
- fuzzy
informal; describes a soft, unclear outline
- well-defined
direct opposite; having a clear, sharp outline
- sharp
common in photography and visual descriptions
文法句型
be + ill-defined
become + ill-defined
look + ill-defined
用法筆記
Typically describes physical features with unclear outlines — edges, borders, shapes, shadows. Also common in medical writing, where an 'ill-defined mass' or 'ill-defined shadow' on an X-ray or CT scan suggests a finding whose shape is not sharply bounded.