Adjacent Words

Ambiguous definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

AMBIG'UOUS, a. [L. ambiguus.]
Having two or more meanings; doubtful; being of uncertain signification; susceptible of different interpretations; hence, obscure. It is applied to words and expressions; not to a dubious state of mind, though it may be to a person using words of doubtful signification.
The ancient oracles were ambiguous, as were their answers.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: open to two or more interpretations; or of uncertain nature or significance; or (often) intended to mislead; "an equivocal statement"; "the polling had a complex and equivocal (or ambiguous) message for potential female candidates"; "the officer's equivocal behavior increased the victim's uneasiness"; "popularity is an equivocal crown"; "an equivocal response to an embarrassing question" [syn: equivocal, ambiguous] [ant: unambiguous, unequivocal, univocal]
2: having more than one possible meaning; "ambiguous words"; "frustrated by ambiguous instructions, the parents were unable to assemble the toy" [ant: unambiguous]
3: having no intrinsic or objective meaning; not organized in conventional patterns; "an ambiguous situation with no frame of reference"; "ambiguous inkblots"

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Latin ambiguus, from ambigere to be undecided, from ambi- + agere to drive — more at agent Date: 1528 1. a. doubtful or uncertain especially from obscurity or indistinctness <eyes of an ambiguous color> b. inexplicable 2. capable of being understood in two or more possible senses or ways <an ambiguous smile> <an ambiguous term> <a deliberately ambiguous reply> Synonyms: see obscure • ambiguously adverb • ambiguousness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 having an obscure or double meaning. 2 difficult to classify. Derivatives: ambiguously adv. ambiguousness n. Etymology: L ambiguus doubtful f. ambigere f. ambi- both ways + agere drive

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Ambiguous Am*big"u*ous, a. [L. ambiguus, fr. ambigere to wander about, waver; amb- + agere to drive.] Doubtful or uncertain, particularly in respect to signification; capable of being understood in either of two or more possible senses; equivocal; as, an ambiguous course; an ambiguous expression. What have been thy answers? What but dark, Ambiguous, and with double sense deluding? --Milton. Syn: Doubtful; dubious; uncertain; unsettled; indistinct; indeterminate; indefinite. See Equivocal.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. If you describe something as ambiguous, you mean that it is unclear or confusing because it can be understood in more than one way. This agreement is very ambiguous and open to various interpretations... = vague ? clear ADJ • ambiguously Zaire's national conference on democracy ended ambiguously. ADV: usu ADV with v, also ADV adj 2. If you describe something as ambiguous, you mean that it contains several different ideas or attitudes that do not fit well together. Students have ambiguous feelings about their role in the world. ADJ

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Doubtful, dubious, uncertain or equivocal, enigmatical, indefinite, indistinct, vague, indeterminate, not plain, not clear, susceptible of more than one meaning.

Moby Thesaurus

Greek to one, agnostic, amalgamated, ambivalent, amphibious, amphibolic, amphibological, amphibolous, antinomic, beyond understanding, blended, capricious, chancy, changeable, combined, complex, composite, compound, compounded, confusable, conglomerate, cryptic, dappled, dicey, double-faced, doubtful, doubting, dubious, eclectic, enigmatic, enigmatical, equivocal, equivocatory, erratic, fickle, fifty-fifty, fishy, foggy, half-and-half, hesitant, hesitating, heterogeneous, impenetrable, inarticulate, incalculable, incognizable, incoherent, incomprehensible, inconclusive, indecisive, indefinite, indemonstrable, indeterminate, indiscriminate, indistinct, inscrutable, intricate, ironic, irresolute, jumbled, many-sided, medley, mingled, miscellaneous, misleading, misty, mixed, motley, multifaceted, multinational, multiracial, multivocal, mysterious, numinous, obscure, opaque, oracular, oxymoronic, paradoxical, past comprehension, patchy, pluralistic, polysemantic, polysemous, problematic, promiscuous, puzzling, questionable, rambling, scrambled, self-contradictory, skeptical, suspect, syncretic, tenebrous, thrown together, touch-and-go, unaccountable, uncertain, unclear, unconfirmable, unconnected, unconvinced, undefined, undependable, undivinable, unfathomable, unforeseeable, unintelligible, unknowable, unpersuaded, unpredictable, unprovable, unreliable, unsearchable, unsettled, unsure, unverifiable, vague, variable, varied, wavering, whimsical