ambiguity

[ am-bi-gyoo-i-tee ]
See synonyms for ambiguity on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural am·bi·gu·i·ties.
  1. doubtfulness or uncertainty of meaning or intention: to speak with ambiguity;an ambiguity of manner.

  2. an unclear, indefinite, or equivocal word, expression, meaning, etc.: a contract free of ambiguities;the ambiguities of modern poetry.

Origin of ambiguity

1
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English ambiguite, from Latin ambiguitās, equivalent to ambigu(us) ambiguous + -itās -ity

Other 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

British Dictionary definitions for ambiguity

ambiguity

/ (ˌæmbɪˈɡjuːɪtɪ) /


nounplural -ties
  1. the possibility of interpreting an expression in two or more distinct ways

  2. an instance of this, as in the sentence they are cooking apples

  1. 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