ambiguous — I adjective abstruse, ambiguus, ambivalent, confused, difficult to comprehend, doubtful, dubious, equivocal, having a double meaning, indefinite, indistinct, inexact, lacking clearness, not clear, not plain, obscure, open to various… … Law dictionary
Ambiguous — Am*big u*ous, a. [L. ambiguus, fr. ambigere to wander about, waver; amb + agere to drive.] Doubtful or uncertain, particularly in respect to signification; capable of being understood in either of two or more possible senses; equivocal; as, an… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
ambiguous — UK US /æmˈbɪgjuəs/ adjective ► having more than one possible meaning, and therefore likely to cause confusion: »Many companies are appealing against the ruling, because the wording is ambiguous … Financial and business terms
ambiguous — (adj.) 1520s, from L. ambiguus having double meaning, shifting, changeable, doubtful, adjective derived from ambigere to dispute about, lit. to wander, from ambi about (see AMBI (Cf. ambi )) + agere drive, lead, act (see ACT (Cf. act)). Sir… … Etymology dictionary
ambiguous — equivocal, cryptic, enigmatic, vague, *obscure, dark Analogous words: dubious, *doubtful, questionable Antonyms: explicit Contrasted words: lucid, perspicuous, *clear: express, definite, specific, categorical (see EXPLICIT) … New Dictionary of Synonyms
ambiguous — [adj] having more than one meaning clear as dishwater*, cryptic, doubtful, dubious, enigmatic, enigmatical, equivocal, inconclusive, indefinite, indeterminate, inexplicit, muddy, obscure, opaque, puzzling, questionable, tenebrous, uncertain,… … New thesaurus
ambiguous — ► ADJECTIVE 1) (of language) having more than one meaning. 2) not clear or decided. DERIVATIVES ambiguously adverb. ORIGIN Latin ambiguus doubtful … English terms dictionary
ambiguous — [am big′yo͞o əs] adj. [L ambiguus < ambigere, to wander < ambi , about, around + agere, to do, ACT1] 1. having two or more possible meanings 2. not clear; indefinite; vague SYN. OBSCURE ambiguously adv. ambiguousness n … English World dictionary
ambiguous — 01. The President was purposefully [ambiguous] in his reply. 02. I feel pretty [ambiguous] about the party. I hope it s a success, but I don t want to go myself. 03. There can be no [ambiguity] over the right of people to say what they believe.… … Grammatical examples in English
ambiguous — ambiguously, adv. ambiguousness, n. /am big yooh euhs/, adj. 1. open to or having several possible meanings or interpretations; equivocal: an ambiguous answer. 2. Ling. (of an expression) exhibiting constructional homonymity; having two or more… … Universalium
