Definition of ambiguous

Email this page to a friend

< ambiguity

ambipolar >

am·big·u·ous    (m-bgy-s) KEY 

ADJECTIVE:

1. Open to more than one interpretation: an ambiguous reply.
2. Doubtful or uncertain: "The theatrical status of her frequently derided but constantly revived plays remained ambiguous" (Frank Rich).

---

ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin ambiguus, uncertain, from ambigere, to go about : amb-, ambi-, around ; see ambi- + agere, to drive; see ag- in Indo-European roots

OTHER FORMS:
am·bigu·ous·ly(Adverb), am·bigu·ous·ness(Noun)

SYNONYMS:
ambiguous, equivocal, obscure, recondite, abstruse, vague, cryptic, enigmatic

These adjectives mean lacking clarity of meaning. Ambiguous indicates the presence of two or more possible meanings: Frustrated by ambiguous instructions, I was unable to assemble the toy. Something equivocal is unclear or misleading: "The polling had a complex and equivocal message for potential female candidates" (David S. Broder). Obscure implies lack of clarity of expression: Some say that Kafka's style is obscure and complex. Recondite and abstruse connote the erudite obscurity of the scholar: "some recondite problem in historiography" (Walter Laqueur). The students avoided the professor's abstruse lectures. What is vague is expressed in indefinite form or reflects imprecision of thought: "Vague . . . forms of speech . . . have so long passed for mysteries of science" (John Locke). Cryptic suggests a sometimes deliberately puzzling terseness: The new insurance policy is full of cryptic terms. Something enigmatic is mysterious and puzzling: The biography struggles to make sense of the artist's enigmatic life.