ambiguous has definitions from the field of psychology
1
[ adjective ] open to two or more interpretations; or of uncertain nature or significance; or (often) intended to mislead

Synonyms

equivocal

Examples

"an equivocal statement" "an equivocal (or ambiguous) message" "the officer's equivocal behavior increased the victim's uneasiness"

Used in print

(William S. Haymond, "Is Distance an Original...)

Obviously , a satisfactory answer to the third question is imperative , if the argument is to get under_way at_all , for if there is any possibility of doubt whether the patient 's tactual sensitivity had been impaired by the occipital lesion , any findings whatsoever in regard_to the first question become completely ambiguous and fail altogether , of_course , as evidence to establish the desired conclusion .

(Evan Esar, Humorous English; a guide to comic ,...)

Nothing in English has been ridiculed as_much_as the ambiguous use of words , unless it be the ambiguous use of sentences .

Nothing in English has been ridiculed as_much_as the ambiguous use of words , unless it be the ambiguous use of sentences .

Such ambiguous exercises compound confusion by making it worse compounded , and they are sometimes expanded until the cream of the jest sours .

This slip is so-called because its semi ambiguous English always seems to refer to a person 's anatomy but never quite means what it seems to say .

2
[ adjective ] having more than one possible meaning

Examples

"ambiguous words" "frustrated by ambiguous instructions, the parents were unable to assemble the toy"

Used in print

(The Atlanta Constitution...)

The jury said it did find that many_of Georgia 's registration and election laws `` are outmoded or inadequate and often ambiguous '' .

(Clement Greenberg, "Collage" in his Art and...)

Thus every part and plane of the picture keeps changing place in relative depth with every_other part and plane ; and it is as if the only stable relation left among the different parts of the picture is the ambivalent and ambiguous one that each has with the surface .

Flatness may now monopolize everything , but it is a flatness become so ambiguous and expanded as to turn_into illusion itself - at_least an optical if_not , properly_speaking , a pictorial illusion .

3
[ adjective ] (psychology) having no intrinsic or objective meaning; not organized in conventional patterns

Examples

"an ambiguous situation with no frame of reference" "ambiguous inkblots"

Used in print

(Jesse W. Grimes and Wesley Allinsmith, "Compuls...)

According_to the theory proposed , this is a consequence of the severe condition of perceived threat that persists unabated for the anxious child in an ambiguous sort of school environment .

Related terms

psychology unstructured

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