Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Doubtfulness or uncertainty as regards interpretation.
- noun Something of doubtful meaning.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The state of being ambiguous; doubtfulness or uncertainty, particularly of signification.
- noun An equivocal or ambiguous expression.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The quality or state of being ambiguous; doubtfulness or uncertainty, particularly as to the signification of language, arising from its admitting of more than one meaning; an equivocal word or expression.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun countable Something liable to more than one
interpretation ,explanation ormeaning , if that meaning etc cannot be determined from itscontext . - noun uncountable The state of being
ambiguous .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an expression whose meaning cannot be determined from its context
- noun unclearness by virtue of having more than one meaning
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Being willing to play in ambiguity is much more fun and interesting than coming to a firm and unmovable decision.
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This ambiguity is also becoming part of US policy toward Israel.
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The key to ambiguity is to fight that urge and leave a few of the pieces of the puzzle out, or figuratively turn them 90 degrees.
Food For Thought SVGL 2009
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An example of this ambiguity is the E-Data patent on "point of sale location."
The practical problem with software patents Venky 2008
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An example of this ambiguity is the E-Data patent on "point of sale location."
Archive 2008-11-09 Venky 2008
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Perhaps most representative of this ambiguity is the kiss that concludes the wedding ceremony, permission for which is granted only after bride and groom have been legally transformed into man and wife.
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Perhaps most representative of this ambiguity is the kiss that concludes the wedding ceremony, permission for which is granted only after bride and groom have been legally transformed into man and wife.
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Real ambiguity, the right kind of ambiguity, is when there's absolute clarity about what happened -- and very little about what it all means.
Deanna Fei: Why Every Writer Should Watch Jersey Shore Deanna Fei 2010
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Real ambiguity, the right kind of ambiguity, is when there's absolute clarity about what happened -- and very little about what it all means.
Deanna Fei: Why Every Writer Should Watch Jersey Shore Deanna Fei 2010
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Real ambiguity, the right kind of ambiguity, is when there's absolute clarity about what happened -- and very little about what it all means.
Deanna Fei: Why Every Writer Should Watch Jersey Shore Deanna Fei 2010
chained_bear commented on the word ambiguity
Usage here.
October 23, 2008
PossibleUnderscore commented on the word ambiguity
"Nothing, Pooh Bear, nothing. We can't all, and some of us don't. That's all there is to it."
Eeyore, Winnie the Pooh, A. A. Milne
December 3, 2009
jmjarmstrong commented on the word ambiguity
JM states – give me ambiguity or give me something else!
July 17, 2011
Louises commented on the word ambiguity
See dissemblance
March 25, 2012