1
as in questionable
giving good reason for being doubted, questioned, or challenged
the evidence that this latest diet really results in lasting weight loss is certainly equivocal
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in ambiguous
having an often intentionally veiled or uncertain meaning
he responded to the reporter's questions with equivocal answers or refusals to comment
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3
as in unsure
having a mixture of opposing feelings
a number of people are clearly equivocal about allowing casino gambling in the state
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of equivocal
However, for higher dose, systemic estrogen therapy — which is absorbed into the blood stream — including estrogen pills, Christmas and other menopause experts are more equivocal about removing the black box warning.
—
Allison Aubrey, NPR, 11 Nov. 2025
But both the text and the history of Article II are far more equivocal than the current Court has been suggesting.
—Adeola Adeosun, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Oct. 2025
Western blot: If the ELISA is positive or equivocal, this more specific test is used to help confirm the presence of Lyme antibodies.
—Matthew Binnicker, Forbes.com, 1 Aug. 2025
And yet, by the time of Borlaug’s death, his accomplishments were looking increasingly equivocal.
—Elizabeth Kolbert, New Yorker, 23 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for equivocal
Allison Aubrey, NPR, 11 Nov. 2025
But both the text and the history of Article II are far more equivocal than the current Court has been suggesting.
—Adeola Adeosun, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Oct. 2025
Western blot: If the ELISA is positive or equivocal, this more specific test is used to help confirm the presence of Lyme antibodies.
—Matthew Binnicker, Forbes.com, 1 Aug. 2025
And yet, by the time of Borlaug’s death, his accomplishments were looking increasingly equivocal.
—Elizabeth Kolbert, New Yorker, 23 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for equivocal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for equivocal
Adjective
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Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said before tipoff Sunday that the team was prepared to play with or without Wembanyama, who was listed as questionable going into the game.—
Anne M. Peterson,
Chicago Tribune,
27 Apr. 2026
-
Preemptive strikes are a very questionable tactic unless the evidence of necessity is overwhelming.—
Gary Franks,
Hartford Courant,
26 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
And that ambiguous statement raised alarms not just with workers but also with human rights groups such as Amnesty International, which issued a World Cup travel advisory for visitors planning on attending the tournament.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
1 May 2026
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The official public warnings for the next Soyuz rocket launch from Plesetsk were even more ambiguous, covering various periods between April 1 and 15.—
Ashley Belanger,
ArsTechnica,
30 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Confused and unsure what to do, a BSO deputy told him his only option was to try to rebook with another airline and hope to make it in time for his daughter’s communion.—
Milena Malaver,
Miami Herald,
2 May 2026
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Thirty-five percent of unsure voters ticked that box, with 33% of young voters doing so.—
Kate Wolffe,
Sacbee.com,
1 May 2026
Adjective
-
The Americans exported violence in the form of counterterrorism and police trainings to as many as eighty-five countries, from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia to Niger to the Philippines, as well as blueprints for dubious legal frameworks to justify their actions.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Apr. 2026
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That dubious honor belongs to the period between March 1973 and March 1981, when prices rose a whopping 104%, according to calculations from CNN’s Alicia Wallace.—
Jeanne Sahadi,
CNN Money,
29 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Eurich later posted a cryptic video to @dumbrblnd on April 21 that followers seemed to think was in reference to Murray.—
Tabitha Parent,
PEOPLE,
29 Apr. 2026
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In the weeks before Andrew Lloyd Webber announced the New York staging of his The Phantom of the Opera reboot Masquerade last year, cryptic messages and clues began popping up, not least being the appearance of the masked singer outside the Tony Awards ceremony.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
28 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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But these unknown early writings suggest that he may be better understood as an immigrant writer—one of the gifted, ambivalent outsiders who remade American literature after World War II—whose most astonishing achievement was the all-American voice of On the Road and the books that came after.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
24 Apr. 2026
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The book’s ambivalent nostalgia has not kept it from succeeding prodigiously.—
Becca Rothfeld,
New Yorker,
23 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Speech — Intimidation as censorship The First Amendment protects disputable speech, not agreeable.—
Brielle Miller,
Baltimore Sun,
9 Mar. 2026
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That disputable appraisal turned a few heads, and people began peppering the bot for further remarks on Musk’s physical prowess.—
Miles Klee,
Rolling Stone,
20 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Umpires, afraid of being overturned, or at least, more aware of the new zone and its limitations, have been calling fewer strikes.—
Ian Miller OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
29 Apr. 2026
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Almost half are personally afraid of losing their job to AI, ranking it among the most acute individual stressors measured in the survey.—
Jessica Guynn,
USA Today,
28 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Equivocal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/equivocal. Accessed 3 May. 2026.
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