 In all likelihood, soriticality is an illusory feature of words like ‘old’ and ‘rich’; their vagueness is real. If that’s right, then apparent soriticality may be best viewed as a temporary symptom of vagueness, or perhaps as an element of its “surface characterization” (Smith 2008, e.g., 132; see Smith’s third chapter for insight as to what vagueness is).