ambiguous

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”).

• IPA^(key): /æmˈbɪɡjuəs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

ambiguous (comparative more ambiguous, superlative most ambiguous)

1. Open to multiple interpretations.

   The politician was criticized for his ambiguous statements and lack of precision.

2. Vague and unclear.

   He gave an ambiguous answer.

3. (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....

• equivocal

• unambiguous
• precise

• ambiguity
• ambiguate
• ambiguation
• disambiguation

• contradictory
• mistakable
• confusing

• ambiguous in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• ambiguous in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

• “ambiguous” in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989, →ISBN.