Ambiguous

How to spell ambiguous

9 letters · 4 syllables

12 of the 45 people asked to spell ambiguous in Spelling Garden got it wrong the first time.

The most common mistake is ambigious. The letters people get wrong are highlighted.

ambigious ambiguous

What people typed instead

• ambigious6 people

How to pronounce ambiguous

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does ambiguous mean?

1. adjectiveOpen to more than one interpretation; not having one clear meaning.

Ambiguous in a sentence

• The contract used ambiguous wording that both parties later disputed.

• Her ambiguous reply left the team unsure whether the project was approved.

Where does ambiguous come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin adjective ambiguus, meaning 'shifting, doubtful, having more than one direction'. That adjective was built on the verb ambigere, literally 'to wander about' or 'to drive both ways', formed from ambi- ('both' or 'around', the same element seen in ambidextrous) and agere ('to drive, lead, or act'). The underlying image is of something that moves in two directions at once, so that the mind cannot settle on a single meaning. English took the word in during the early 1500s, at first describing language or signs that could be read in more than one way, and it has kept that core sense ever since. The tricky spelling is easier to remember once you see ambi- ('both') joined to the -guous ending, where the silent-feeling 'u' belongs to the Latin root rather than being a stray letter.

How the word is built

• ambi- (both ways, around)
• ig- (from agere: to drive, lead)
• -uous (adjective suffix)