Aoristic

Word of the Day

Aoristic is an adjective that means indefinite or indeterminate.

The Greek word aoristos (OUR ee stose) means ‘vague’ or ‘indefinite.’ Aoristic is often used in grammar to describe an unqualified past tense of a verb without reference to duration or completion of the action. But it can also be used more broadly, to mean anything unclear. Here’s an example:

Many found Sid’s behavior that night aoristic. Nobody fully understood what he meant by his strange, rambling speech.