as in obscure
having an often intentionally veiled or uncertain meaning
the exact reason for the change in plans is ambiguous, but I suspect it has something to do with money
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of ambiguous
As the noise-rap-electro act Jane Remover shrieked and pleaded through a 90-minute marathon set at the Fonda on Thursday night, one very young couple dressed right out of a conservative‘s nightmare — gender-ambiguous, purple hair, facial piercings — tapped me on the shoulder.
—
Los Angeles Times,
19 June 2026
The extent to which anybody else is aware of the time-loop is ambiguous; the ship’s skipper is an elderly man with no memory of his name, and at times it’s implied that the town has deliberately trapped these men.
—
Sam Bodrojan,
IndieWire,
17 June 2026
The Final Cut doesn't include Ford's voiceover narration, restores an impactful dream sequence involving a unicorn, and maintains the director's original ambiguous ending.
—
Britt Hayes,
Entertainment Weekly,
16 June 2026
Having avoided the subsequent turbulent decolonization movements experienced by, say, France, Great Britain or Belgium throughout the 1950s and ’60s, Italy has largely been able to avoid postcolonial animosity, enabling it to maintain ambiguous ties with African and Arab states.
—
Kaitlyn Rabe,
The Conversation,
16 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for ambiguous
Los Angeles Times,
19 June 2026
The extent to which anybody else is aware of the time-loop is ambiguous; the ship’s skipper is an elderly man with no memory of his name, and at times it’s implied that the town has deliberately trapped these men.
—
Sam Bodrojan,
IndieWire,
17 June 2026
The Final Cut doesn't include Ford's voiceover narration, restores an impactful dream sequence involving a unicorn, and maintains the director's original ambiguous ending.
—
Britt Hayes,
Entertainment Weekly,
16 June 2026
Having avoided the subsequent turbulent decolonization movements experienced by, say, France, Great Britain or Belgium throughout the 1950s and ’60s, Italy has largely been able to avoid postcolonial animosity, enabling it to maintain ambiguous ties with African and Arab states.
—
Kaitlyn Rabe,
The Conversation,
16 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for ambiguous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ambiguous
Adjective
-
His doctors speculated his infection might have been a rare case of cryptic transmission from sharing meals and bathrooms with his coworkers, one of whom apparently had a tapeworm infection.
-
The Drama stirred debate on social media over its cryptic marketing campaign that did not directly divulge the main focus of the film.
Adjective
-
When that’s not enough, Google may add random noise to the data that can further obscure identities.
-
This seems, if anything, deliberately obscure.
Adjective
-
Naughton joins a cast led by Reeve Carney as the enigmatic Jay Gatsby, Eva Noblezada as Daisy Buchanan and Corbin Bleu as Nick Carraway.
-
Excavations at Rising Star have sparked debate about whether these little hominins had all ended up in the caves by tragic accident, or whether they’d been carefully placed there by other members of their enigmatic species, dubbed Homo naledi.
Adjective
-
Acting on such vague forecasts, like shorting Bitcoin, carries immense risk due to its volatility.
-
But the movie never seems to have a grip on its hero’s moral code; despite urging Ruthye not to kill the villain, Kara’s outlook on her own use of lethal force remains frustratingly vague.
Adjective
-
Translation is a very mysterious thing because my goal is to create something that’s deeply equivalent but uses zero of the same words.
-
That is until their husbands are killed under mysterious circumstances in the USSR, and the pair become CIA operatives.
Adjective
-
Yet whether van Dijk will still be in uniform in 2030 is unclear, making this a chance the Netherlands can’t afford to lose.
-
Any plan for data retention policies remains troublingly unclear, and there’s seemingly been no privacy impact assessment weighing the privacy implications of centralizing so much sensitive data in the White House, the Guardian reported.
Adjective
-
The details remain murky, but the investment fund would be financed privately and not by US taxpayers, according to the administration.
-
For a predator that relies on sight and fast reaction distances in shallow water, murky conditions can alter the entire hunting landscape and prey may become harder to detect.
Adjective
-
The mystic chords that bind us together matter more than any policy.
-
Operating within those parameters, the mystic outlands trend extends to some of the world’s most mesmerizing corners.
Cite this Entry
“Ambiguous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ambiguous. Accessed 2 Jul. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
