ambiguity

UK: /ˌæmbɪˈgjuːɪti/ US: /ˌæmbɪˈgjuɪti/ ,(am′bi gyo̅o̅′i tē)

Inflections of 'ambiguity' (n): npl: ambiguities

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

am•bi•gu•i•ty /ˌæmbɪˈgyuɪti/   n., pl. -ties. 

1. doubtfulness or uncertainty of meaning or intention:
   [uncountable] a comment full of ambiguity.
2. doubt;
   uncertainty:
   [uncountable] the ambiguity of the victory.
3. [countable] a word, expression, etc., that can have more than one meaning.

See ambi-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

am•bi•gu•i•ty  (am′bi gyo̅o̅′i tē), n., pl. -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.

• Latin ambiguitās, equivalent. to ambigu(us) ambiguous + -itās -ity
• late Middle English ambiguite 1375–1425

Synonyms

• 1. vagueness, deceptiveness.
• 2. equivocation.

Antonyms

• 1. explicitness, clarity.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

ambiguity / ˌæmbɪˈɡjuːɪtɪ/ noun ( -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
3. vagueness or uncertainty of meaning