October 07, 2009
- ambiguous (adjective)
- \am-BIG-yuh-wus\
- What does it mean?
- : able to be understood in more than one way
- How do you use it?
- Danny's message was so ambiguous that it was impossible to tell whether he wanted us to meet him at the mall or at his house.
- Are you a word wiz?
Which of the following words do you think are most closely related to "ambiguous"? (Remember, look for a family resemblance!)
Today's word cousins are "ambidextrous," "ambivalent," and "amphibian." All of those words come from either the Latin prefix "ambi-" (which means "on both sides" or "around") or the Greek prefix "amphi-" (which is closely related to "ambi-" and which means the same thing). Someone who is ambidextrous can do things equally well with both hands, while someone who is ambivalent both likes and dislikes a situation. An amphibian can live both on land and in water.
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