ambiguous

Etymology

From Latin ambiguus (“moving from side to side, of doubtful nature”), from ambigere (“to go about, wander, doubt”), from ambi- (“around, about, on both sides”) + agere (“to drive, move”).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /æmˈbɪɡ.ju.əs/
(General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /æmˈbɪɡ.ju.əs/, [ɛəmˈbɪɡ.ju.əs]
- Audio (California): (file)
(General Australian) IPA^(key): /æmˈbɪɡ.jʉ.əs/
(New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ɛmˈbəɡ.jʉ.əs/
Rhymes: -ɪɡjuəs
Hyphenation: am‧bi‧gu‧ous

Adjective

ambiguous (comparative more ambiguous, superlative most ambiguous)

Open to multiple interpretations.
Synonyms: equivocal, unclear; see also Thesaurus:vague

Antonyms: unambiguous, clear

The politician was criticized for his ambiguous statements and lack of precision.
(obsolete, of a person) Hesitant; uncertain; not taking sides.
- 1662, Thomas Salusbury, Mathematical collections and translations, in two tomes - Salusbury:
  And forasmuch as in this same question I am ambiguous, and Simplicius is resolute....

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

open to multiple interpretations

Albanian: i dykuptueshëm
Arabic: غَامِض (ḡāmiḍ)
Armenian: երկիմաստ (hy) (erkimast)
Asturian: ambiguu
Bulgarian: двусмислен (bg) (dvusmislen)
Catalan: ambigu (ca)
Chinese:
Cantonese: 曖昧 / 暧昧 (oi³ mui⁶, oi² mui⁶), 含糊 (ham⁴ wu⁴), 模稜兩可 / 模棱两可 (mou⁴ ling⁴ loeng⁵ ho²)

Hokkien: 歧義 / 歧义 (kî-gī), 曖昧 / 暧昧 (ài-māi)

Mandarin: 模稜兩可 / 模棱两可 (zh) (móléng liǎngkě), 歧義 / 歧义 (zh) (qíyì), 曖昧 / 暧昧 (zh) (àimèi)
Czech: mnohoznačný (cs)
Danish: tvetydig (da), flertydig (da), dobbelttydig
Dutch: meerduidig (nl), dubbelzinnig (nl), ambigu (nl)
Esperanto: ambigua (eo), plursenca
Finnish: moniselitteinen, monitulkintainen (fi), tulkinnanvarainen
French: ambigu (fr)
Galician: ambiguo (gl)
Georgian: ორაზროვანი (orazrovani), არაცალსახა (aracalsaxa), ბუნდოვანი (bundovani), გაურკვეველი (gaurḳveveli)
German: mehrdeutig (de) (doppeldeutig (de), zweideutig (de))
Greek: αμφίσημος (el) (amfísimos)
Ancient: ἀμφίβολος (amphíbolos)
Hebrew: דו משמעי (du mashmaí)
Hungarian: többértelmű (hu), kétértelmű (hu), nem egyértelmű
Icelandic: óskýr
Indonesian: rancu (id), kabur (id)
Italian: ambiguo (it)
Japanese: 曖昧な (ja) (aimai na)
Korean: 모호한 (mohohan)
Latin: ambiguus
Macedonian: двосмислен (dvosmislen), недозначен (nedoznačen)
Malay: taksa, kabur (ms)
Maori: rangirua
Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
Norwegian: flertydig, tvetydig (no)
Plautdietsch: dobbeldiedent
Polish: wieloznaczny (pl), dwuznaczny (pl)
Portuguese: ambíguo (pt), dúbio (pt)
Romanian: ambiguu (ro), cu multe sensuri
Russian: двусмы́сленный (ru) (dvusmýslennyj), неоднозна́чный (ru) (neodnoznáčnyj), многозна́чный (ru) (mnogoznáčnyj)
Serbo-Croatian: višeznačan (sh), dvosmislen (sh)
Slovene: dvoumen
Spanish: ambiguo (es)
Swedish: tvetydig (sv), dubbeltydig (sv), (osäker (sv))
Tagalog: talohimig, taluhimig
Thai: คลุมเครือ (th) (klum kreua), กำกวม (th) (gam-guuam)
Turkish: belirsiz (tr), iki anlamlı (tr), ikircil (tr)
Ukrainian: багатозначний (uk) (bahatoznačnyj)
Vietnamese: tối nghĩa (vi)
Welsh: amwys (cy)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Bulgarian: ^{(please verify)} неясен (bg) (nejasen)
Chinese:
Cantonese: ^{(please verify)} 歧義 / 歧义 (kei⁴ ji⁶)
Danish: ^{(please verify)} dunkel (da), ^{(please verify)} forblommet
Dutch: ^{(please verify)} vaag (nl), ^{(please verify)} onduidelijk (nl), ^{(please verify)} ambigu (nl)
German: ^{(please verify)} unklar (de), ^{(please verify)} vage (de)
Hungarian: ^{(please verify)} félreérthető (hu), ^{(please verify)} kétértelmű (hu), ^{(please verify)} homályos (hu)
Macedonian: ^{(please verify)} нејасен (nejasen)
Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} vag, ^{(please verify)} uklar (no)
Portuguese: ^{(please verify)} vago (pt), ^{(please verify)} indefinido (pt), ^{(please verify)} impreciso (pt)
Russian: ^{(please verify)} двусмысленный (ru) (dvusmyslennyj), ^{(please verify)} неясный (ru) (nejasnyj), ^{(please verify)} неопределённый (ru) (neopredeljónnyj), ^{(please verify)} неоднозначный (ru) (neodnoznačnyj), ^{(please verify)} сомнительный (ru) (somnitelʹnyj), ^{(please verify)} путанный (ru) (putannyj), ^{(please verify)} нечёткий (ru) (nečótkij), ^{(please verify)} противоречивый (ru) (protivorečivyj)
Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} nejasan (sh)
Swedish: ^{(please verify)} vag (sv), ^{(please verify)} dunkel (sv), ^{(please verify)} svävande (sv)
Thai: ^{(please verify)} คลุมเครือ (th) (klum-klʉʉa), ^{(please verify)} กำกวม (th) (gam-guuam)
Vietnamese: ^{(please verify)} mơ hồ (vi)

References

John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “ambiguous”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN.

ambiguous

English