ambiguous
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Latin ambiguus (“moving from side to side, of doubtful nature”), from ambigere (“to go about, wander, doubt”), from ambi- (“around, about, on both sides”) + agere (“to drive, move”).
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
ambiguous (comparative more ambiguous, superlative most ambiguous)
- Open to multiple interpretations.
- Synonym: equivocal
- Antonym: unambiguous
- The politician was criticized for his ambiguous statements and lack of precision.
- Vague and unclear. (Can we verify(+) this sense?)
- Antonyms: unambiguous, clear, precise
- He gave an ambiguous answer.
- (obsolete, of persons) Hesitant; uncertain; not taking sides.
- 1662 Thomas Salusbury
- And forasmuch as in this same question I am ambiguous, and Simplicius is resolute....
- 1662 Thomas Salusbury
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
open to multiple interpretations
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vague and unclear
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See alsoEdit
Further readingEdit
- ambiguous in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- ambiguous in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
ReferencesEdit
- John A. Simpson and Edward S. C. Weiner, editors (1989) , “ambiguous”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN