US /æmˈbɪɡ.ju.əs/ UK /æmˈbɪɡ.ju.əs/
adj Freq #21408

Meanings

  1. 1
    adj

    Having more than one possible meaning; not clear.

    The sign was so ambiguous that nobody knew which way to go.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 adj · having more than one... equivocalunclearvague
Word family
Derived forms ambiguouslyambiguousnessinambiguousnonambiguous
Related forms ambagesambiguateambiguationambiguityconfusingcontradictorydisambiguationmistakable

Etymology

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”).

View etymology graph ->

Topics

markdown

Send feedback

Optional — only if you'd like a reply.