ambidextrous

[ am-bi-dek-struhs ]

adjective

1. able to use both hands equally well:

   an ambidextrous surgeon.

2. unusually skillful; facile:

   an ambidextrous painter, familiar with all media.

3. double-dealing; deceitful.
4. Slang. bisexual.

ambidextrous

/ ˌæmbɪdɛkˈstɛrɪtɪ; ˌæmbɪˈdɛkstrəs /

adjective

1. equally expert with each hand
2. informal.
   highly skilled or adept
3. underhanded; deceitful

Derived Forms

• ambidexterity, noun
• ˌambiˈdextrously, adverb

Other Words From

• ambi·dextrous·ly adverb
• ambi·dextrous·ness noun
• pseudo·ambi·dextrous adjective
• pseudo·ambi·dextrous·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of ambidextrous¹

First recorded in 1640–50; ambidext(e)r + -ous

Example Sentences

Of course, the ambidextrous ironies of the current situation work both ways.

From The Daily Beast

He worked until those clever ambidextrous hands lost the cunning to work out the forms his active brain could still conceive.

From Project Gutenberg

He is painting at a small easel and working in quite a wonderful manner, for he is ambidextrous.

From Project Gutenberg

Man was once, in his childhood on earth, what Charles Reade wanted him again to be in his maturer centuries, ambidextrous.

From Project Gutenberg

Because it has been found that children trained on Ambidextrous lines develop neurotic symptoms.

From Project Gutenberg

It is seldom that one in this world sees his way to being so adroitly ambidextrous.

From Project Gutenberg