ambiguous

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”).

• IPA^(key): /æmˈbɪɡjuəs/

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ambiguous (comparative more ambiguous, superlative most ambiguous)

1. Open to multiple interpretations.

   Synonyms: equivocal, unclear

   Antonyms: unambiguous, clear

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

2. (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....

• ambages
• ambiguity
• ambiguate
• ambiguation
• disambiguation

• contradictory
• mistakable
• confusing

• ambiguous in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• ambiguous in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911

• “ambiguous”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989, →ISBN.