ambiguous

Adjective
Synonyms: equivocal

WordNet 3.0

Adjective (3)

  1. open to two or more interpretations; or of uncertain nature or significance; or (often) intended to mislead“an equivocal statement”“the polling had a complex and equivocal (or ambiguous) message for potential female candidates”“the officer's equivocal behavior increased the victim's uneasiness”“popularity is an equivocal crown”“an equivocal response to an embarrassing question”Synonyms: equivocal
  2. having more than one possible meaning“ambiguous words”“frustrated by ambiguous instructions, the parents were unable to assemble the toy”
  3. having no intrinsic or objective meaning; not organized in conventional patterns“an ambiguous situation with no frame of reference”“ambiguous inkblots”
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Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Ambiguous \Am*big"u*ous\, a. [L. ambiguus, fr. ambigere to wander about, waver; amb- + agere to drive.] Doubtful or uncertain, particularly in respect to signification; capable of being understood in either of two or more possible senses; equivocal; as, an ambiguous course; an ambiguous expression. [1913 Webster]

What have been thy answers? What but dark, Ambiguous, and with double sense deluding? --Milton. [1913 Webster]

Syn: Doubtful; dubious; uncertain; unsettled; indistinct; indeterminate; indefinite. See Equivocal. [1913 Webster]

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