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What is the difference between indefinite and indecisive, and when do you use each one of them?

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closed as general reference by Jasper Loy, kiamlaluno, Matt Эллен, waiwai933♦ Aug 19 '12 at 4:50

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2 Answers

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Indefinite

1-vague, not clearly defined

... so indefinite that it is confusing.

2-no fixed end

... voted to begin an indefinite strike

Indecisive

1-having difficulty with "decisions" or "choices"

a weak and indecisive leader

2-inconclusive

The outcome of the battle was indecisive.

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up vote 2 down vote

You should use indefinite in a situation which is difficult to define: there are various many possible explanations and it's difficult to say which of them is true. For example:

I went through the numbers over and over again and the results were indefinite. I don't think we can get a clear, definite answer on this.

On the other hand, you should use indecisive when there are only a few options being compared and chosen from, like:

The two runners entered the finish line both at once. The referees had a hard time with the indecisive results.

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