ambiguity
doubtfulness or uncertainty of meaning or intention: to speak with ambiguity;an ambiguity of manner.
an unclear, indefinite, or equivocal word, expression, meaning, etc.: a contract free of ambiguities;the ambiguities of modern poetry.
Origin of ambiguity
1Other words for ambiguity
Opposites for ambiguity
Other words from ambiguity
- non·am·bi·gu·i·ty, noun, plural non·am·bi·gu·i·ties.
Words Nearby ambiguity
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use ambiguity in a sentence
The ambiguity revolving around the event made it a poor candidate for a final showdown.
Hollande is ‘the king of doublespeak, ambiguity, and perpetual lies’
Hell Hath No Fury Like Valerie Trierweiler, the French President’s Ex | Lizzie Crocker | November 28, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIt was never a huge hit, but its stories resonated with an American public tenuously relearning moral ambiguity.
How a War-Weary Vet Created ‘The Twilight Zone’ | Rich Goldstein | November 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBut the ambiguity of “appropriate disciplinary action” is what is so frightening about the smoking ban.
The University Of New Orleans’ Cigarette Ban Is Total BS | Chloé Valdary | October 21, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTNo one wants to go through life in a state of moral and existential ambiguity.
Thank Goodness We’ve Got A Plan! Let the War Begin! | Michael Carson | September 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
If, however, we know that Garfield was born in 1831, the ambiguity would be removed.
Assimilative Memory | Marcus Dwight Larrowe (AKA Prof. A. Loisette)And if a policy is susceptible of two constructions, the ambiguity is to be resolved in favor of the insured.
Putnam's Handy Law Book for the Layman | Albert Sidney Bollesambiguity abounds everywhere and confounds everything; we are obliged at every word to exclaim, What do you mean?
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 1 (of 10) | Franois-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire)Thus, all that has been said of the pretended adoration exacted by Alexander is founded on ambiguity.
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 1 (of 10) | Franois-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire)The following are instances of great practical importance, in which arguments are habitually founded on a verbal ambiguity.
A System of Logic: Ratiocinative and Inductive | John Stuart Mill
British Dictionary definitions for ambiguity
/ (ˌæmbɪˈɡjuːɪtɪ) /
the possibility of interpreting an expression in two or more distinct ways
an instance of this, as in the sentence they are cooking apples
vagueness or uncertainty of meaning: there are several ambiguities in the situation
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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