Sample sentences for AMBIGUOUS

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Definition

unclear — because there could be two or more interpretations

More rarely, ambiguous can mean uncertain or doubtful — as in the expression "an ambiguous smile".

The Constitution of the United States is intentionally ambiguous — requiring human judgment to interpret difficult questions.

Her answer was ambiguous.

ambiguous = unclear — because there could be two or more interpretations

Inkblots are intentionally ambiguous.
Till we can clear these ambiguities
William Shakespeare -- Romeo and Juliet

ambiguities = things that are unclear — because open to two or more interpretations

They had the kind of back-and-forth that left no ambiguity or question, saying exactly what they meant, when they meant it.
Sarah Dessen -- Along for the Ride

ambiguity = lack of clarity

"I always feel lousy without shoes," I said with an ambiguous smile.
Sylvia Plath -- The Bell Jar

ambiguous = uncertain

When I was young, I couldn't tolerate such ambiguity.
Jay Allison, et al. -- This I Believe II

ambiguity = lack of clarity (where something is unclear because there could be two or more interpretations)

He shouted, "You will not kill my girlfriend today, International Terrorist of Ambiguous Nationality!"
John Green -- The Fault in Our Stars

ambiguous = unclear (not known)

her role seemed to be ambiguous
John Hersey -- Hiroshima

ambiguous = unclear

The comment was ambiguous, and intended so,
Hal Borland -- When the Legends Die

ambiguous = unclear — because there could be two or more interpretations

It was a very ambiguous contract.
Robert Penn Warren -- All the King's Men

ambiguous = unclear — because there could be two or more interpretations

There was no ambiguity in anything;
Henry James -- The Turn of the Screw

ambiguity = uncertainty — because there could be two or more interpretations

"Well, I married him," said Myrtle, ambiguously.
F. Scott Fitzgerald -- The Great Gatsby
The sums are the scoundrel's share, and where he feared an ambiguity, you see he added something clearer.
Robert Louis Stevenson -- Treasure Island

ambiguity = unclear — because open to two or more interpretations

...their feelings are still ambiguous.
Orson Scott Card -- Ender's Game

ambiguous = unclear

I don't do well with ambiguous threats.
Suzanne Collins -- Catching Fire

ambiguous = uncertain or unclear — because there could be two or more interpretations

Thus, from beneath the black veil, there rolled a cloud into the sunshine, an ambiguity of sin or sorrow, which enveloped the poor minister, so that love or sympathy could never reach him.
Nathaniel Hawthorne -- The Minister's Black Veil

ambiguity = something that is unclear

they carried it on their backs and shoulders-and for all the ambiguities of Vietnam, all the mysteries and unknowns, there was at least the single abiding certainty that they would never be at a loss for things to carry.
Tim O'Brien -- The Things They Carried

ambiguities = things that are unclear

That you, at such times seeing me, never shall—
With arms encumber'd thus, or this head-shake,
Or by pronouncing of some doubtful phrase,
As 'Well, well, we know'; or 'We could, an if we would';
Or 'If we list to speak'; or 'There be, an if they might';
Or such ambiguous giving out—to note
That you know aught of me. This not to do,
William Shakespeare -- Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

ambiguous = unclear

he at last confronts his mother and in a scene of provocative ambiguity-(a somewhat oedipal embrace)
Tom Stoppard -- Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

ambiguity = lacking clarity — because there could be two or more interpretations

Dictionary / pronunciation — Google^®Dictionary list — Onelook.com^®

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