ambiguous

English

Etymology

(deprecated template usage)

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] 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”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /æmˈbɪɡjuəs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

ambiguous (comparative more ambiguous, superlative most ambiguous)

1. Open to multiple interpretations.

   The politician was criticized for his ambiguous statements and lack of precision.

2. Vague and unclear.

   He gave an ambiguous answer.

3. (obsolete, of persons) Hesitant; uncertain; not taking sides.
   • 1662 Thomas Salusbury

     And forasmuch as in this same question I am ambiguous, and Simplicius is resolute....

Synonyms

• equivocal

Antonyms

• unambiguous
• precise
• clear

Related terms

• ambiguity
• ambiguate
• ambiguation
• disambiguation

Translations

open to multiple interpretations

• Albanian: i dykuptueshëm
• Arabic: غَامِض (ḡāmiḍ)
• Armenian: երկիմաստ (hy) (erkimast)
• Asturian: ambiguu
• Bulgarian: двусмислен (bg) (dvusmislen)
• Catalan: ambigu (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 模かたぎ稜りょう兩りょう可か／模かたぎ棱两可か (zh) (móléngliǎngkě), 模かたぎ稜りょう两可 (zh) (móléng liǎngkě)

• Czech: mnohoznačný (cs) m
• Danish: tvetydig (da), flertydig (da), dobbelttydig
• Dutch: meerduidig (nl), dubbelzinnig (nl), ambigu (nl)
• Esperanto: ambigua (eo)
• Finnish: tulkinnanvarainen
• French: ambigu (fr)
• Galician: ambiguo
• Georgian: ორაზროვანი (orazrovani)
• German: mehrdeutig (de) (doppeldeutig (de), zweideutig (de))
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἀμφίβολος (amphíbolos)

• Hebrew: please add this translation if you can
• Hungarian: többértelmű, kétértelmű (hu), nem egyértelmű
• Icelandic: óskýr
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Indonesian: rancu (id), kabur (id)
• Interlingue:
• Italian: ambiguo (it) m
• Japanese: 曖昧あいまいな (ja) (aimai na)
• Korean: 모호한 (mohohan)
• Latin: ambiguus
• Macedonian: двосмислен m (dvosmislen)
• Maori: rangirua
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian: flertydig, tvetydig (no)
• Polish: wieloznaczny (pl), dwuznaczny (pl)
• Portuguese: ambíguo (pt), dúbio (pt)
• Romanian: ambiguu (ro), cu multe sensuri
• Russian: двусмы́сленный (ru) (dvusmýslennyj), неоднозначный (ru) (neodnoznačnyj), многозначный (ru) (mnogoznačnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: višeznačan (sh) m, dvosmislen (sh) m
• Slovene: dvoumen
• Spanish: ambiguo (es)
• Swedish: tvetydig (sv), dubbeltydig (sv), (osäker (sv))
• Tagalog: talohimig, taluhimig
• Thai: คลุมเครือ (klum kreua)
• Turkish: belirsiz (tr)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

vague and unclear

• Bulgarian: неясен (bg) (nejasen)
• Catalan: ambigu (ca)
• Danish: dunkel (da), forblommet
• Dutch: vaag (nl), onduidelijk (nl), ambigu (nl)
• Esperanto: ambigua (eo)
• Finnish: epäselvä (fi), moniselitteinen
• French: ambigu (fr) m
• Galician: ambiguo
• German: unklar (de), vage (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: ἀμφίβολος (amphíbolos)

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: félreérthető (hu), kétértelmű (hu), homályos (hu)
• Japanese: 曖昧あいまいな (ja) (aimai na)
• Macedonian: нејасен m (nejasen)
• Norwegian: vag, uklar (no)
• Portuguese: ambíguo (pt), dúbio (pt), vago (pt), indefinido (pt), impreciso (pt)
• Russian: двусмысленный (ru) (dvusmyslennyj), неясный (ru) (nejasnyj), неопределённый (ru) (neopredeljónnyj), неоднозначный (ru) (neodnoznačnyj), сомнительный (ru) (somnitelʹnyj), путанный (ru) (putannyj), нечёткий (ru) (nečótkij), противоречивый (ru) (protivorečivyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: nejasan (sh) m
• Spanish: ambiguo (es)
• Swedish: vag (sv), dunkel (sv), svävande (sv)
• Vietnamese: mơ hồ (vi)

See also

• contradictory
• mistakable
• confusing

Further reading

• “ambiguous”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “ambiguous”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

References

• John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “ambiguous”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN.