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INDETERMINATE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Not leading to a definite ending or result
Example:
an indeterminate campaign
Classified under:
Similar:
inconclusive (not conclusive; not putting an end to doubt or question)
Derivation:
indeterminateness (the quality of being vague and poorly defined)
Sense 2
Meaning:
(of a quantity) having no definite value, as an equation that cannot be solved
Example:
0/0 is an indeterminate form
Classified under:
Similar:
indeterminable; undeterminable (not capable of being definitely decided or ascertained)
Domain category:
math; mathematics; maths (a science (or group of related sciences) dealing with the logic of quantity and shape and arrangement)
Derivation:
indeterminateness (the quality of being vague and poorly defined)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Not precisely determined or established; not fixed or known in advance
Example:
an indeterminate future
Synonyms:
indeterminate; undetermined
Classified under:
Similar:
cost-plus (determining payment based on the actual cost of production plus an agreed-upon fee or rate of profit)
open-ended (allowing for a spontaneous response)
Also:
uncertain (not established beyond doubt; still undecided or unknown)
inconclusive (not conclusive; not putting an end to doubt or question)
indeterminable; undeterminable (not capable of being definitely decided or ascertained)
Antonym:
determinate (precisely determined or limited or defined; especially fixed by rule or by a specific and constant cause)
Derivation:
indeterminateness (the quality of being vague and poorly defined)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Having a capacity for continuing to grow at the apex
Example:
an indeterminate stem
Classified under:
Similar:
racemose (having stalked flowers along an elongated stem that continue to open in succession from below as the stem continues to grow)
Domain category:
botany; phytology (the branch of biology that studies plants)
Antonym:
determinate (not continuing to grow indefinitely at the apex)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Of uncertain or ambiguous nature
Example:
the equivocal (or indeterminate) objects painted by surrealists
Classified under:
Similar:
ambiguous; equivocal (open to two or more interpretations; or of uncertain nature or significance; or (often) intended to mislead)
Derivation:
indeterminateness (the quality of being vague and poorly defined)
Context examples:
An umbrella term used to describe several very different complex congenital heart defects that share the same problem: the heart has only one functional ventricle (anatomically right or left or indeterminate) supplying the systemic circulation.
(Common Ventricle Disorder, NCI Thesaurus)
And then, after some time,—a very indeterminate time,—when he had learned and prepared himself, he would write the great things and his name would be on all men's lips.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
And, of course, Cheese-Face had picked on him again, and there was another fight that was indeterminate, because at quarter to four the door of the press-room was thrown open and the gang of boys crowded in to fold their papers.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
We backed up to a grey old man who bore an absurd resemblance to John D. Rockefeller. In a basket, swung from his neck, cowered a dozen very recent puppies of an indeterminate breed.
(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
