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Definition of "ambiguous" []

  • Open to more than one interpretation: an ambiguous reply. (adjective)
  • Doubtful or uncertain: "The theatrical status of her frequently derided but constantly revived plays remained ambiguous” ( Frank Rich). (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "ambiguous" in a sentence
  • "Chapter, and is when we speake or write doubtfully and that the sence may be taken two wayes, such ambiguous termes they call _Amphibologia_, we call it the _ambiguous_, or figure of sence incertaine, as if one should say _Thomas Tayler_ saw _William Tyler_ dronke, it is indifferent to thinke either th'one or th'other dronke."
  • "˜ambiguous™ and that the Arabic philosophers, starting with Alfarabi, made being said in a prior and a posterior sense the main characteristic of all ambiguous terms."
  • "I think someone previously used the word ambiguous, that is absolutely spot on what he wanted."