Standard Lemma guide

imprecise

adj · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ɪmpɹɪˈsaɪs/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: /ɪmpɹəˈsaɪs/
  • Australian: /ɪmpɹəˈsɑɪs/
  • rhymes with -aɪs
  • CMU ARPABET: IH1 M P R AH0 S AY2 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Not precise or exact; containing some error or uncertainty.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: inexact

Antonyms: precise

2

adjective

Meaning 2

not precise

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • imprecise astronomical observations
  • the terms he used were imprecise and emotional

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: precise

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Italic *n̥- Latin in-bor. Middle English in- English im- English precise English imprecise From im- + precise.

Across languages

Translations

18 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: неточен (netočen) — not precise or exact
  • Catalan: imprecís — not precise or exact
  • Czech: nepřesný — not precise or exact
  • Danish: upræcis — not precise or exact
  • Esperanto: malpreciza — not precise or exact
  • Finnish: epätarkka — not precise or exact
  • Finnish: epätäsmällinen — not precise or exact
  • French: imprécis — not precise or exact
  • German: ungenau — not precise or exact
  • Hungarian: pontatlan — not precise or exact
  • Irish: neamhbheacht — not precise or exact
  • Italian: impreciso — not precise or exact
  • Norwegian Bokmål: upresis — not precise or exact
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: upresis — not precise or exact
  • Polish: niedokładny — not precise or exact
  • Polish: nieścisły — not precise or exact
  • Polish: nieprecyzyjny — not precise or exact
  • Spanish: inconcreto — not precise or exact