ambiguous
Americanadjective
-
open to or having several possible meanings or interpretations; equivocal.
an ambiguous answer.
- Antonyms:
- explicit
-
Linguistics. (of an expression) exhibiting constructional homonymity; having two or more structural descriptions, as the sequence Flying planes can be dangerous.
-
of doubtful or uncertain nature; difficult to comprehend, distinguish, or classify.
a rock of ambiguous character.
- Synonyms:
- anomalous, problematic, indeterminate, vague, dubious
- Antonyms:
- certain
-
lacking clearness or definiteness; obscure; indistinct: an ambiguous future.
an ambiguous shape;
an ambiguous future.
- Antonyms:
- unambiguous, precise, clear
adjective
-
having more than one possible interpretation or meaning
-
difficult to understand or classify; obscure
Related Words
ambiguous, equivocal, cryptic, enigmatic describe conditions or statements not clear in meaning. ambiguous can refer to a statement, act, or attitude that is capable of two or more often contradictory interpretations, usually accidentally or unintentionally so: an ambiguous passage in the preamble. equivocal, usually applied to spoken as well as written language, also means susceptible of two or more interpretations, and it usually suggests a deliberate intent to mislead by avoiding clarity: saving face with an equivocal response to an embarrassing question. cryptic usually refers to intentional obscurity, especially in language, and often implies a private or hidden meaning but stresses resultant mystification or puzzlement: a cryptic remark that left us struggling to interpret his intention. enigmatic focuses on perplexity resulting from a mysterious or imponderable event or utterance, often one of great importance or deep significance: prophetic texts so enigmatic that their meaning has been disputed for centuries.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ambiguous
First recorded in 1480–1500; from Latin ambiguus, equivalent to ambig(ere) “to dispute, contend; be undecided, doubt” (from ambi- prefix meaning “both, around” + -igere combining form of agere “to drive, lead, act”) + -uus adjective suffix; see origin at ambi-; see -ous
Explanation
Look to the adjective ambiguous when you need to describe something that's open to more than one interpretation, like the headline "Squad helps dog bite victim." Newspaper headlines can be unintentionally funny when they're ambiguous. In "Squad helps dog bite victim," is the squad helping a victim of a dog bite or helping a dog bite a victim? The ambi- prefix means "both ways," while the guous part is from the Latin verb agere, "to lead or drive." Thus an ambiguous sentence or situation drives us in two different directions at once. The accent is on the second syllable, "big," which you can remember since something that's ambiguous can lead to big misunderstandings.
Vocabulary lists containing ambiguous
Essential Academic Vocabulary for High School Students, List 1
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "A"
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Grade 9, List 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The first is whether our “strategic ambiguity” is really ambiguous at all.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 18, 2026
The last tail risk for risk assets that Steer identifies is concerns about Taiwan, following ambiguous comments about the island’s future after the summit between President Donald Trump China’s leader Xi Jinping.
From MarketWatch • May 18, 2026
Text messages in court records show a brief and ambiguous exchange between McCluskie and Williamson that backs that up.
From Los Angeles Times • May 15, 2026
"The reasons are still slightly ambiguous to this day," says Andy.
From BBC • May 7, 2026
One out of every two thousand babies is born with ambiguous genitalia.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
