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Define potentially vague terms. An example of law, that has been criticized in the USA for vagueness is Federal Analogue Act, which establishes criminal liability for making/selling chemicals, which are "analogous" to known prohibited drugs, but fails to be sufficiently specific for the accused to know, whether an "analogous drug" is prohibited ...
Many scientific concepts are of necessity vague, for instance species in biology cannot be precisely defined, owing to unclear cases such as ring species. Nonetheless, the concept of species can be clearly applied in the vast majority of cases. As this example illustrates, to say that a definition is "vague" is not necessarily a criticism.
Use specific wording rather than vague whenever possible: For example, instead of saying, "in the old days", specify the time period you are referring to (say, the 19th century, or the 1960s). Similarly, do not reference "now" : the word "Recently" or "Soon" or their synonyms will become meaningless quickly.
An illustration of a weasel using "weasel words". In this case, "some people" are a vague and undefined authority. In rhetoric, a weasel word, or anonymous authority, is a word or phrase aimed at creating an impression that something specific and meaningful has been said, when in fact only a vague, ambiguous, or irrelevant claim has been communicated.
When used sincerely, vague words make an article confusing and possibly make readers misinterpret or even miss important information altogether. In the hands of those with more sinister intents, vague words can currently be used to make articles that are readable enough to impart wrong or biased information but confusing enough to prevent ...
Template for marking specific inline words and phrases as too vague for Wikipedia's guidelines. Template parameters [Edit template data] This template prefers inline formatting of parameters. Parameter Description Type Status Reason? reason title Why are you marking this as 'vague'? This will be displayed as a tool tip. Default This information is too vague. Auto value String suggested Text ...
Next sentence[s]. [1] This is an example of where the article editor appears to be quoting a phrase from a source, as opposed from using quote marks for use–mention distinction or a scare quote. The citation should be bought closer to the quote. Resolved as: It was "the most something" of a case of XYZ. [1] Next sentence[s]. [1]
A variant of the "vague lead" is a lead in which editors have removed all examples from the lead, so that the lead describes the topic in such a generalized way that the reader gains little information about the topic and gets no information about the most important thinkers, bands, or organizations that are associated with the topic.