ambiguous

B2 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /æmˈbɪɡ.ju.əs/ UK /æmˈbɪɡ.ju.əs/ See IPA manual

Freq #21408

Meanings

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... equivocal unclear vague

Word family

Derived forms ambiguously ambiguousnessinambiguousnonambiguous

Related forms ambagesambiguateambiguationambiguity confusing contradictorydisambiguationmistakable

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

sexually ambiguous
unclear or deliberately open to interpretation about sexual identity or attraction

Adverb + adjective

Simplified etymology

Ambiguous entered English in the late Middle Ages and belongs to the family of Latin agere, meaning “to do” or “to drive”; its underlying meaning is given as “drive in both ways.”

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”).

*h₂en- Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- Proto-Indo-European ambiguus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# ambiguous

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /æmˈbɪɡ.ju.əs/
**IPA (UK):** /æmˈbɪɡ.ju.əs/
**Frequency rank:** 21408

## Meanings
1. Having more than one possible meaning; not clear.

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

## Derived Forms
- ambiguously
- ambiguousness
- inambiguous
- nonambiguous

## Related Forms
- ambages
- ambiguate
- ambiguation
- ambiguity
- confusing
- contradictory
- disambiguation
- mistakable

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *h₂en-
- Root: *h₂eǵ-
- Root: ambiguus

## 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”).

## AI Etymology
Ambiguous comes 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”) plus agere (“to drive, move”). The historical line also includes Proto-Indo-European *h₂en- and Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-. The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern adjectival form is built from the named base and affix.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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