Synonyms for ambiguous
- adjective
All synonyms
Adjective
1. Equivocal — open to multiple interpretations
equivocal, uncertain, vague, indeterminate, indistinct, enigmatic, obscure, dubious, unclear, imprecise, evasive, undefined, murky, unsettled, questionable, doubtful, indefinite, unintelligible, hazy, fuzzy, double, turbid
Other
oracular, tortuous, homonymous, polysemous, polysemantic, misteous UK
Definitions
- adj. 1
Open to multiple interpretations.
The politician was criticized for his ambiguous statements and lack of precision.
Related words
- Word family
- ambiguously ambiguousness ambages ambiguate ambiguity
- Phrases
- situs ambiguous
Choose the right word
Ambiguous is applied only to spoken or written statements; equivocal has other applications.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- uncertain Tom told me that he's uncertain what he should do.
- vague I deal in facts and figures, not vague impressions.
- indeterminate The results of the study are indeterminate.
- equivocal Research in this area is somewhat equivocal.
- tortuous The five-year civil war has seen plenty of tortuous battlefield ups and downs.
- oracular Those oracular Chinese proverbs were confusing for the students.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| ambiguous | rising | |
| uncertain | steady | |
| vague | steady | |
| indeterminate | steady | |
| equivocal | steady | |
| tortuous | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- hazy2
- 5 letters
- vague1, fuzzy2, murky2
- 6 letters
- double2, turbid2
- 7 letters
- obscure2, unclear2, dubious3, evasive3
- 8 letters
- doubtful2, tortuous3, oracular, misteous
- 9 letters
- uncertain3, unsettled3, enigmatic4, undefined3, imprecise3, equivocal4
- 10 letters
- indefinite4, indistinct3, homonymous, polysemous
- 12 letters
- questionable4, polysemantic
- 13 letters
- indeterminate5
- 14 letters
- unintelligible6
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (hazy2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- ambigu
- Italiano
- ambiguo
- Español
- ambiguo
- Deutsch
- zweideutig
- Català
- ambigu