ambiguous
68
6.3
- adjective
- /æmˈbɪɡ.ju.əs/
:
ambiguo
- In literature, an ambiguous ending can leave readers with multiple interpretations of the story.
- an ambiguous situation
- remain ambiguous
- somewhat ambiguous
And I know that's very ambiguous, but thank you.
- And I know that's very ambiguous, but thank you.
- But yeah, I, I do prefer a non ambiguous, unambiguous ending.
- Is that perhaps ambiguous or is it, you know, straightforward?
- And Stevenson says it's meant to be ambiguous in that way.
- There's nothing strange and liminal and ambiguous about it.
- And then I think because of my ambiguous look, they like that.
- So it becomes much more morally ambiguous for those folks.
- But this concept of being happy, it's a very ambiguous concept for a lot of people.
- I think that the the law was ambiguous.
- Ernst Chris said great works are great because they're ambiguous.
- But there's less lead roles for for, you know, multi ethnic, ethnically ambiguous Hispanic actors, right?
- Also that the interpretation of God is always ambiguous.
- Living My Quest is is not some ambiguous, untouchable experience.
Examples
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See, left is a little bit ambiguous because what does left mean here?
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Mr. Wallace, the book ends on an ambiguous note.
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Every part of that is so ambiguous, it tells you nothing.
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But this concept of being happy, it's a very ambiguous concept for a lot of people.
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And that ambiguous government advice about staying alert.
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Most people, when they see an ambiguous situation, they get scared and they freeze.
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So it becomes much more morally ambiguous for those folks.
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My problem is this: The content of that message is morally ambiguous at best.
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But Butterfield is coming toward the stage, with an ambiguous look on his face.
Fiction book (1995) -
In many places, however, including many modern urban settings, group identities are ambiguous and poorly defined.
Academic text (1999)
Synonyms
276
3.2
Hard to understand and makes people feel unsure
207
3.9
Not easy to understand or know for sure
6
7.6
Not clear because it can be understood in more than one way and sometimes hides the truth
1
5.0
Not clearly defined so limits are unclear
Antonyms
How Ambiguous
Surface Forms
Morphology
ambiguous = ambigu + ous
The form contains the combining form 'ambigu-' plus the adjectival suffix '-ous', but 'ambigu-' is not a standalone English word and its meaning is not obvious to an average B1 learner, so the overall meaning cannot be reliably derived from the parts.
Etymology
Ambiguous comes from the parts ambi- meaning 'both' and a root meaning 'to move between'. So, it was like 'going both ways', which is why something ambiguous can have two or more meanings and is not clear.