adj
Freq #38061
Meanings
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1
adj
uncertain or unable to decide about what course to follow
Was ambivalent about having children.
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2
adj
Alternately being or having one opinion or feeling, and then the opposite.
His feelings toward his parents are ambivalent.
Thesaurus
Synonyms
Word family
Derived forms
ambivalentlynonambivalentpreambivalentunambivalent
Etymology
Back-formation from ambivalence, from German Ambivalenz, from Latin ambi- (“in two ways”) + valeō (“be strong”); equivalent to ambi- + -valent. Compare ambivert.