Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Open to more than one interpretation.
- adjective Doubtful or uncertain.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Of doubtful or uncertain nature; wanting clearness or definiteness; difficult to comprehend or distinguish; indistinct; obscure.
- Of doubtful purport; open to various interpretations; having a double meaning; equivocal.
- Wavering; undecided; hesitating: as, “ambiguous in all their doings,” Milton, Eikono-klastes (1649), p. 239.
- Using obscure or equivocal language.
- Synonyms Equivocal, etc. (see
obscure ), indeterminate, indefinite, indistinct, not clear, not plain, amphibolous, dubious, vague, enigmatical, dark, blind.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Doubtful or uncertain, particularly in respect to signification; capable of being understood in either of two or more possible senses; equivocal
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Open to multiple
interpretations . - adjective
Vague and unclear. - adjective Of persons:
hesitant ; uncertain; not taking sides.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective open to two or more interpretations; or of uncertain nature or significance; or (often) intended to mislead
- adjective having no intrinsic or objective meaning; not organized in conventional patterns
- adjective having more than one possible meaning
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Examples
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Chapter, and is when we speake or write doubtfully and that the sence may be taken two wayes, such ambiguous termes they call _Amphibologia_, we call it the _ambiguous_, or figure of sence incertaine, as if one should say _Thomas Tayler_ saw _William Tyler_ dronke, it is indifferent to thinke either th'one or th'other dronke.
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˜ambiguous™ and that the Arabic philosophers, starting with Alfarabi, made being said in a prior and a posterior sense the main characteristic of all ambiguous terms.
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I think someone previously used the word ambiguous, that is absolutely spot on what he wanted.
Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph
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I think someone previously used the word ambiguous, that is absolutely spot on what he wanted.
Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph
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When a death requires a presumption, it's loved ones who can become adrift, says therapist Pauline Boss, author of two books on what she calls ambiguous loss.
Inside the High Tech Hunt for a Missing Silicon Valley Legend
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When a death requires a presumption, it's loved ones who can become adrift, says therapist Pauline Boss, author of two books on what she calls ambiguous loss.
Inside the High Tech Hunt for a Missing Silicon Valley Legend
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In a state where coal is seen as the fount of prosperity, Mr. Raese has seized on what he calls ambiguous statements by Mr. Manchin on proposals for a cap-and-trade system to reduce greenhouse gases.
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In a state where coal is seen as the fount of prosperity, Mr. Raese has seized on what he calls ambiguous statements by Mr. Manchin on proposals for a cap-and-trade system to reduce greenhouse gases.
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Leaving the boundary between human life and nature ambiguous is a Japanese virtue.
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The person who needs to stop being ambiguous is you.
The Volokh Conspiracy » Andrew McCarthy Sticks to His Guns (And He May Be Pointing Them at You Next)
Comments
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bilby commented on the word ambiguous
It's just like WeirdNET to have 14 definitions for this word.
August 3, 2008
reesetee commented on the word ambiguous
At least four of which use the word itself....
August 4, 2008