ambiguity

American  

[am-bi-gyoo-i-tee] / ˌæm bɪˈgju ɪ ti /

noun

• ambiguities
  plural

1. doubtfulness or uncertainty of meaning or intention.

   to speak with ambiguity;

   an ambiguity of manner.

   Synonyms:

   deceptiveness, vagueness

   Antonyms:

   clarity, explicitness

2. an unclear, indefinite, or equivocal word, expression, meaning, etc..

   a contract free of ambiguities;

   the ambiguities of modern poetry.

   Synonyms:

   equivocation

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ambiguity British  

/ ˌæmbɪˈɡjuːɪtɪ /

noun

1. the possibility of interpreting an expression in two or more distinct ways

2. an instance of this, as in the sentence they are cooking apples

3. vagueness or uncertainty of meaning

   there are several ambiguities in the situation

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonambiguity
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• ambiguities
  plural

Etymology

Origin of ambiguity

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English ambiguite, from Latin ambiguitās, equivalent to ambigu(us) ambiguous ( def. ) + -itās -ity ( def. )

Explanation

Something with ambiguity is unclear. Think about the sentence, "Jill saw the man with binoculars." If you are wondering whether Jill or the man had the binoculars, you are noticing the ambiguity, or the double meaning, of this sentence. Lawyers word contracts to avoid ambiguity, but in doing so prevent anyone who is not a lawyer from understanding what they have written! If you can't choose between two decisions because both seem somehow wrong, you are dealing with moral ambiguity. Imagine if a friend who has helped you out many times asks you to cheat. It's wrong to cheat but it also seems wrong not to help someone who has been there for you.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ambiguity ambiguities

He offered no similar ambiguity about what he believed should happen when a journalist characterized that record differently.

From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2026

Instead, they expose an important ambiguity in how experiments designed to probe gravity's quantum properties may be interpreted.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026

If overheating from the artificial-intelligence boom spreads to the broader economy, he said, “that’s just a regular old central bank needing to respond to the business cycle. There’s no ambiguity of what has to happen.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026

“The clear message we heard was that many school districts have been struggling to navigate legal ambiguity regarding compliance with Proposition 28.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

“But minds are not to be trusted. Minds are always drifting toward ambiguity, toward questions, when what you really need is certainty. Purpose. Clarity. Do not trust your minds.”

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

For anyone facing potentially dire medical results or other nerve-racking ambiguities, the waiting is the hardest part.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 4, 2026

“These ambiguities … are only likely to intensify as the conflict evolves,” Skuld said.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 5, 2026

That includes the need to maintain the ambiguities and the nuance of the film as Tracy wrote it.

From Barron's ● Mar. 1, 2026

Any ambiguities in the videos shared online were seized upon - different angles and different screengrabs were used to push a particular narrative.

From BBC ● Jan. 8, 2026

Many of the silliest ambiguities in the Internet memes come from newspaper headlines and magazine tag lines precisely because they have been stripped of all punctuation.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Related Words

• doubt
• uncertainty
• vagueness