Revised as of 18 April 2021
Ambiguous is doubtful, unclear. Similar to how I feel about the future and what it holds for us.
Ambivalent is simply about choice and a contradiction that comes from being unsure which one to choose. It’s similar to voting in an election: Is this crappy politician any better than the other one??
You may also want to explore “Ambiguous versus Equivocal“.
Word Confusions…
…started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noir for you from either end.
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| Ambiguous | Ambivalent |
|---|---|
| Credit to: Apple Dictionary.com; Dictionary.com: ambiguous and ambivalent | |
Well That’s a Comprehensive, Non-ambiguous Guarantee Then by Peter Cattell is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Flickr. |
Should I Swim or Should I Go? by Tjook is under the CC BY-ND 2.0 license, via — We’ve all been there, ambivalent about going in and getting used to the temperature or staying out of that cold water. |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Adjective | Adjective |
[Of language] Open to more than one interpretation
Of doubtful or uncertain nature
Lacking clearness or definiteness
|
Having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or someone
[Psychology] Of or relating to the coexistence within an individual of positive and negative feelings toward the same person, object, or action, simultaneously drawing him or her in opposite directions |
| Examples: | |
| Salt it with plenty of ambiguous phrases that we can interpret as we like after they’ve signed.
The question is rather ambiguous, which I suppose merits that ambiguous answer. The election results for the past few elections have been ambiguous. This whole society is morally ambiguous. Yes, well, he’s a rock of ambiguous character. It’s an ambiguous future ahead for us. |
Some loved her, some hated her, few were ambivalent about her.
The whole family was ambivalent about the move to the suburbs. She is regarded as a morally ambivalent character in the play. Peter has come to an ambivalent attitude to technology. |
| Derivatives: | |
| Adjective: unambiguous Adverb: ambiguously Noun: ambiguousness |
Adverb: ambivalently Noun: ambivalence |
| History of the Word: | |
| Early 16th century, in the sense of indistinct, obscure, from the Latin ambiguus meaning doubtful, from ambigere meaning waver, go around, which is from ambi- (both ways) + agere (to drive) + -ous. | 1916 as a psychological term and a back formation from ambivalence, which is from the German Ambivalenz, on the pattern of equivalent.
In general use by 1929. |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan…which words are your pet peeves?
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Pinterest Photo Credits:
Es is’ wie es is’ by Sebastian Schack is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Flickr.
