ambivalent
adjective
Terrence RaffertyDavid P. Calleo
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Ambivalent typically describes either a person who has contradictory feelings about a thing, or the contradictory feelings themselves. For example, someone who is ambivalent about attending an event both wants and doesn’t want to go; the person’s feelings about attending the event are ambivalent. Ambivalent, along with the noun ambivalence, entered English during the early 20th century in the field of psychology, both terms being borrowings from German. The prefix ambi- means “both,” and the -valent and -valence parts ultimately come from the Latin verb valēre, meaning “to be strong.” Be careful not to confuse ambivalent with another ambi word, ambiguous, which means “having more than one possible interpretation.”
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Ambiguous vs. Ambivalent
Dating to the 16th century, ambiguous is quite a bit older than ambivalent, which entered English as a loan from German in the early 20th century. It was coined by the psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler (who also introduced the term Schizophrenie, "schizophrenia," and Autismus, "autism"). Both words are in some fashion concerned with duality: ambivalent relates to multiple and contradictory feelings, whereas ambiguous typically describes something with several possible meanings that create uncertainty.
The words’ etymologies offer some help in distinguishing between them. Their shared prefix, ambi-, means "both." The -valent in ambivalent was extracted from German äquivalent, "equivalent," from Late Latin aequivalens, "having equal strength," and, in combination with ambi-, suggests the pull of two different emotions. The -ig- in ambiguous, on the other hand, comes ultimately from Latin agere ("to drive, to lead"); paired with ambi-, it suggests movement in two directions at once, and hence, a wavering or uncertainty.
Examples of ambivalent in a Sentence
Charles Bethea, New Yorker, 28 Apr. 2025
According to a 2022 Gallup Poll, 54% of Gen-Z employees, slightly higher than any other generation, are ambivalent or not engaged at work.
—Lynn Smith, Forbes.com, 16 Apr. 2025
George was famously ambivalent about the emergence of punk and those thrashing sounds.
—Kaleb Horton, Rolling Stone, 2 Apr. 2025
Rodrigues’s play leans much further into autofiction than his work typically does, yet feels somewhat ambivalent about it.
—Laura Cappelle, New York Times, 24 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Ambivalent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ambivalent. Accessed 11 May. 2025.
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