equivocal

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“
Young Dardennes, to obtain grace for the equivocal origin of his convictions, placed himself in the front rank of these last.

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Definitions (19)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. adjective Open to two or more interpretations and often intended to mislead; ambiguous. See Synonyms at ambiguous.
  2. adjective Of uncertain significance.
  3. adjective Of a doubtful or uncertain nature.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (11)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

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Examples (50)

  • Yet her lingering reaction to the entire episode was equivocal, ambivalent, no help at all in restoring her equanimity. —  A Lady of Expectations
  • This judge was never equivocal, and I assumed the adjournment was so that she could write an opinion on this still-evolving area of the law. —  Death Dance - Fairstein
  • His answers were equivocal, and, above all, upon every occasion he made mystery and was secret in a way that set Jean-Christophe beside himself. —  Jean-Christophe, Vol. I
  • The tenets of party throughout this embarrassed period from 1846 to 1852 were shifting, equivocal, and fluid. —  The Life of William Ewart Gladstone, Vol. 1 (of 3) 1809-1859
  • Is not this pure and unadulterated Sisyphism That there may be nothing equivocal, the minister carries his idea still farther, and on the same principle that we have heard him call the intensity of labor riches_, we will find him calling the abundant results of labor, and the plenty of every thing proper to the satisfying of our wants, poverty_. —  Sophisms of the Protectionists
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Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. From Late Latin aequivocus : Latin aequi-, equi- + Latin vocāre, to call; see wekw- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. = Italian equivocale, from Late Latin æquivocus, of like sound, ambiguous: see equivoke.
 

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/əˈkwɪvəkəl/
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