ambidextrous

adjective am·bi·dex·trous \ ˌam-bi-ˈdek-strəs \

|Updated on: 6 Jun 2018

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of ambidextrous

1 a : using both hands with equal ease or dexterity

an ambidextrous pitcher

Guatelli says the master was ambidextrous, that he sketched with his right hand while he wrote with his left—simultaneously.
—John P. Wiley Jr.

b soccer : using both feet with equal ease : two-footed

When Zinger played the Ghosts in the regular season, he kicked with his right foot. This time, the ambidextrous soccer player went with his left.
—Lianne Elliott

2 : designed or suitable for use by the left or right hand

With two firing buttons, it's the first ambidextrous joystick—just as comfortable for lefties as righties.
—Popular Computing

3 : unusually skillful : versatile

He is completely ambidextrous, that is to say, completely able to express himself in verse or prose
—T. S. Eliot

4 : characterized by duplicity : double-dealing

He was unordained, uneducated, and theologically so ambidextrous that he could be either Lutheran or Reformed as the situation required.
—G. H. Genzmer

—

ambidextrously

adverb

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Recent Examples of ambidextrous from the Web

To use a term that is much favored by the company’s leaders and by management gurus, GM must be ambidextrous.

— rick tetzeli, Fortune, "GM Gets Ready for a Post-Car Future," 23 May 2018
Others: Qwuantrezz Knight, Deon Jones KICKER Joseph Petrino: For a team that has struggled with long field-goal attempts and kickoffs, ambidextrous freshman could be a godsend.

— don markus, baltimoresun.com, "Projecting the Maryland football team's depth chart after spring game," 20 Apr. 2018
Chris Hanson, New England’s punter from 2007-09, was the rare ambidextrous specialist who in high school and college place-kicked with his right leg and punted with his left leg.

— jenny vrentas, SI.com, "Punting Takes a Left Turn," 11 Jan. 2018
This is a type of musical multitasking that’s only capable of someone as ambidextrous as Beck.

— matt miller, Esquire, "Beck's New Album Is Perfect for a Really Weird Car Commercial," 13 Oct. 2017
Austin French is ambidextrous, having the ability to pass and shoot a lacrosse ball equally as well on either side of his body.

— mike chambers, The Denver Post, "Denver Pioneers’ Austin French: Son, brother, father-figure," 26 Apr. 2017
The Cleveland Cavaliers' center is virtually ambidextrous.

— bill livingston, cleveland.com, "The overlooked dominance and unsung balance of Cleveland Cavaliers' Tristan Thompson: Bill Livingston (photos)," 18 May 2017
Drawing on chatty letters, Lerner gives us a vivid picture of Kantorowicz’s appetite for sociable pleasures: ambidextrous erotic dalliances, fancy meals, copious boozing, fishing and gossip.

— george prochnik, New York Times, "He Remade Kings: A Scholar’s New Views," 6 Jan. 2017
An interesting variant of this problem is called the ambidextrous sofa problem.

— avery thompson, Popular Mechanics, "Why Mathematicians Cannot Solve the Problem of Moving Your Sofa," 24 Mar. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ambidextrous.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Latin dexter originally meant "related to or situated on the right side," but since most people do things better with the right hand, "dexter" developed the sense of "skillful" (as demonstrated by our word dexterous). In 1646, English physician and author Sir Thomas Browne combined "dexter" with the Latin prefix ambi- (meaning "both") in the first documented use of "ambidextrous": "Some are . . . ambidextrous or right-handed on both sides." The word can now describe the kind of physical or mental agility demonstrated by one with multiple diverse talents.