(click/touch triangles for details)
Definition
unclear in meaning — especially where opposing interpretations are reasonable (sometimes intentionally)The form unequivocal (not equivocal; or clean in meaning) is encountered much more frequently, but equivocal is seen on many more SAT review lists.
- Her statement was equivocal.
equivocal = unclear in meaning — especially where opposing interpretations are reasonable (sometimes intentionally)
- an unequivocal statement
- His statement of support was painfully equivocal.
- I appreciated his unequivocal support.
- an unequivocal success
- I am concerned about his equivocal reputation.
- I am comforted by his unequivocal reputation.
- What an equivocal companion is this!William Shakespeare -- All's Well That Ends Well
- He was the one person I could count on, unequivocally, to say exactly what he meant, no hedging around.Sarah Dessen -- The Truth About Forever
- ...leaving me with no unequivocal answers about cheerleaders and their diet aids or...Ellen Hopkins -- Glass
- I learned, moreover, at intervals, and through broken and equivocal hints, another singular feature of his mental condition.Edgar Allan Poe -- The Fall of the House of Usher
- [Laughing equivocally.]Henrik Ibsen -- Hedda Gabler
- These sentences, to sugar or to gall,
Being strong on both sides, are equivocal:William Shakespeare -- Othello, the Moor of Venice - But the cause of death—unequivocally—was drowning.David Guterson -- Snow Falling on Cedars
- I experienced a sentiment half of horror, half of remorse, for the crime of which I had been guilty; but it was, at best, a feeble and equivocal feeling, and the soul remained untouched.Edgar Allan Poe -- The Black Cat
- ...the day would have been an unequivocal success had nothing else happened; but something else did.Kate Douglas Wiggin -- Rebecca Of Sunnybrook Farm
- the evidence from bacteriologic analysis was equivocal
- Jos had always had rather a mean opinion of the Captain, and now began to think his courage was somewhat equivocal.Thackeray, William Makepeace -- Vanity Fair
- This unspoken converging of minds, equivocal though it was on Martin's part, resulted gradually in a more friendly period.Haldeman, Julius Mr. and Mrs. -- Dust
- What an equivocal companion is this!Shakespeare, William -- All's Well that End's Well
(editor's note: The prefix "un-" in unequivocal means not and reverses the meaning of equivocal. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.)
(editor's note: The prefix "un-" in unequivocal means not and reverses the meaning of equivocal. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.)
(editor's note: The prefix "un-" in unequivocal means not and reverses the meaning of equivocal. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.)
(editor's note: The prefix "un-" in unequivocal means not and reverses the meaning of equivocal. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.)
equivocal = ambiguous or doubtful
unequivocally = without ambiguity (in a completely clear manner)
(editor's note: The prefix "un-" in unequivocally means not and reverses the meaning of equivocally. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.)
unequivocal = unmistakably clear
(editor's note: The prefix "un-" in unequivocal means not and reverses the meaning of equivocal. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.)
equivocal = unclear in meaning
equivocally = with meaning that is not clear
equivocal = unclear in meaning — especially where opposing interpretations are reasonable
unequivocally = clearly and unmistakably
(editor's note: The prefix "un-" in unequivocally means not and reverses the meaning of equivocally. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.)
equivocal = of doubtful significance (not clearly and strongly felt in the normal sense)
(editor's note: The prefix "un-" in unequivocal means not and reverses the meaning of equivocal. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.)