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Glite Dictionary
amphiboly

amphiboly

1 9.9
A sentence that allows more than one meaning
  • noun
  • /æmˈfɪbəli/
  • Specialized
: anfibología
  • The instructor highlighted an amphiboly in the student's essay that could mislead readers about the main argument.

Examples

  • When trying to explain his point, he accidentally used an amphiboly, leaving his audience confused.

  • Thus, the "worst social statistic ever" commits a fallacy of amphiboly.

    Blog text (31)

  • But it wouldn't help to hide the amphiboly that RW depends on.

    Blog text (9)

  • The sentence contained an amphiboly that made it difficult to understand the author's intention.

Synonyms

ambiguity
vsamphiboly
54 6.3

A lack of clear meaning that allows people to understand it in different ways

is specifically the grammatical cause producing more than one interpretation
amphibology
vsamphiboly
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A sentence or phrase that can be read in more than one way

refers to the grammatical construction that causes multiple interpretations
equivocalness
vsamphiboly
9.5

A situation where something has more than one meaning and causes confusion

is about a grammatical structure causing that uncertainty in a sentence

How Ambiguous

amphiboly
  • Specialized
1 9.9
ambiguity
54 6.3
uncertainty
255 4.0
clarity
181 3.0

Surface Forms

amphiboly singular
amphibolies plural

Etymology

Amphiboly comes from Greek parts amphi- meaning 'both', as in amphibian, and -boly from a word for 'throw', so it pictures a meaning 'thrown' in two directions. That's why an amphiboly is a sentence that can be read in two different ways.