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ambiguous - 20 thesaurus results
| Main Entry: | ambiguous |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | having more than one meaning |
| Synonyms: | cryptic, doubtful, dubious, enigmatic, equivocal, inconclusive, indefinite, indeterminate, muddy, obscure, opaque, puzzling, questionable, tenebrous, uncertain, unclear, unintelligible, vague, clear as dishwater, enigmatical, inexplicit, multivocal, polysemous |
| Notes: | ambiguous is vague by accident or intent; equivocal is vague by intent |
| Antonyms: | clear, definite, explicit, lucid |
| Main Entry: | backhanded |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | underhanded |
| Synonyms: | ambiguous, equivocal, sarcastic, sardonic, double-edged, two-edged |
| Main Entry: | borderline |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | inexact |
| Synonyms: | ambiguous, ambivalent, doubtful, equivocal, indecisive, indefinite, indeterminate, marginal, open, problematic, uncertain, unclear, undecided, unsettled, dubitable, unclassifiable |
| Antonyms: | certain, definite, exact, sure |
| Main Entry: | cryptic |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | secret; obscure in meaning |
| Synonyms: | abstruse, ambiguous, apocryphal, arcane, cabalistic, dark, enigmatic, equivocal, esoteric, evasive, hidden, incomprehensible, inexplicable, murky, mysterious, mystic, mystical, occult, opaque, oracular, perplexing, puzzling, recondite, secretive, strange, tenebrous, unclear, unfathomable, vague, veiled, Delphian, Delphic, mystifying, uninformative |
| Antonyms: | clear, obvious, plain, straightforward, seen |
| Main Entry: | deceptive |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | dishonest |
| Synonyms: | ambiguous, bum*, catchy, crafty, cunning, deceitful, delusive, designing, disingenuous, fake, fallacious, false, fishy, foxy, fraudulent, illusory, indirect, insidious, lying, misleading, mock, oblique, off*, phony, plausible, rascal, roguish, scheming, seeming, serpentine, shifty, slick, slippery, sly, sneaky, snide, specious, spurious, subtle, treacherous, tricky, two-faced*, underhand, underhanded, unreliable, wily, astucious, beguiling, deceiving, deluding, delusory, imposturous |
| Antonyms: | forthright, frank, honest, open, truthful, upright |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | elusive |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | evasive, mysterious |
| Synonyms: | ambiguous, baffling, cagey, deceitful, deceptive, equivocal, evanescent, fallacious, fleeting, fraudulent, fugitive, greasy, illusory, incomprehensible, insubstantial, intangible, misleading, occult, phantom, puzzling, shifty, shy, slippery, subtle, transient, transitory, tricky, volatile, difficult to catch, elusory, fugacious, imponderable, indefinable, stonewalling, unspecific |
| Antonyms: | confronting, facing, inviting, attracting, encountering, enticing |
| Main Entry: | enigmatic/enigmatical |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | mysterious |
| Synonyms: | ambiguous, cryptic, dark, doubtful, equivocal, incomprehensible, indecipherable, inexplicable, inscrutable, obscure, occult, oracular, perplexing, puzzling, recondite, secret, teasing, uncertain, unfathomable, unintelligible, Delphian, Sibylline, sphinxlike, stickling, stumping |
| Antonyms: | clear, obvious, unmysterious |
| Main Entry: | equivocal |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | doubtful, uncertain |
| Synonyms: | ambiguous, ambivalent, borderline, disreputable, dubious, evasive, fishy*, fuzzy*, hazy*, indefinite, indeterminate, indistinct, misleading, muddled, oblique, obscure, open, problematic, puzzling, questionable, suspect, suspicious, tenebrous, unclear, undecided, unintelligible, vague, amphibological, clear as mud, clouded, muzzy, unexplicit, with mixed feelings |
| Antonyms: | certain, clear, definite, determined, obvious, plain, sure, unequivocal, unquestionable |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | evasive |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | deceitful, tricky |
| Synonyms: | ambiguous, cagey, cunning, deceptive, devious, elusive, false, fugitive, greasy, indirect, intangible, lying, misleading, oblique, shifty, slippery, sly, unclear, vague, casuistic, casuistical, dissembling, elusory, equivocating, prevaricating, shuffling, sophistical, stonewalling |
| Antonyms: | direct, forthright, honest, ready, straight, straightforward |
| Main Entry: | fishy |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | doubtful, suspicious |
| Synonyms: | ambiguous, dubious, equivocal, far-fetched, funny, implausible, improbable, odd, problematic, queer, questionable, shady, suspect, uncertain, unlikely, doubtable, dubitable |
| Antonyms: | aboveboard, honest, likely, probable, real, truthful, unquestionable, unsuspicious |
| Main Entry: | inconclusive |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | up in the air |
| Synonyms: | ambiguous, deficient, incomplete, indecisive, indeterminate, lacking, open, uncertain, unconvincing, undecided, uneventful, unfinished, unsatisfactory, unsettled, vague, unfateful |
| Antonyms: | certain, conclusive, decisive, definite, sure |
| Main Entry: | indirect |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | roundabout; unintended |
| Synonyms: | ambiguous, ancillary, circuitous, circular, collateral, complicated, contingent, crooked, devious, discursive, duplicitous, erratic, eventual, implied, incidental, long, long-winded*, meandering, oblique, obscure, out-of-the-way, rambling, secondary, serpentine*, sinister, sinuous, sneaky, subsidiary, tortuous, underhand, vagrant, wandering, winding, zigzag, circumlocutory, long way home, long-drawn-out, periphrastic, sidelong, snaking, sneaking, twisting |
| Antonyms: | direct, straight, straightforward |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | inscrutable |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | hidden, mysterious; blank |
| Synonyms: | ambiguous, arcane, cabalistic, deadpan*, difficult, enigmatic, impenetrable, incomprehensible, inexplicable, mystic, secret, unaccountable, unfathomable, unintelligible, unreadable, mysterial, poker-faced*, sphinxlike, undiscoverable, unexplainable, unknowable |
| Antonyms: | clear, comprehensible, evident, intelligible, obvious, plain |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | misleading |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | deceptive, confusing |
| Synonyms: | ambiguous, catchy, deceitful, delusive, disingenuous, evasive, fallacious, false, inaccurate, perplexing, puzzling, specious, spurious, tricky, wrong, beguiling, bewildering, casuistical, confounding, deceiving, deluding, delusory, demagogic, distracting, sophistical |
| Antonyms: | honest, truthful |
| Main Entry: | nebulous |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | confused, obscure |
| Synonyms: | ambiguous, amorphous, cloudy, dark, dim, hazy, indefinite, indeterminate, indistinct, misty, murky, shadowy, shapeless, uncertain, unclear, unformed, vague, imprecise |
| Antonyms: | apparent, definite, obvious, plain |
| Main Entry: | noncommittal |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | unwilling to decide |
| Synonyms: | ambiguous, careful, cautious, circumspect, discreet, equivocal, evasive, guarded, hush-hush*, indefinite, judicious, middle-of-the-road*, neutral, politic, reserved, restrained, tactful, tentative, vague, wary, buttoned up, clammed up, constrained, even-steven, incommunicable, middle-ground, on-the-fence, temporizing, unrevealing, zipped |
| Antonyms: | decisive, definite, willing, committal, judgemental |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | oracular |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | prophetic |
| Synonyms: | ambiguous, apocalyptic, arcane, auspicious, authoritative, cabalistic, clairvoyant, cryptic, dogmatic, foreboding, imperious, mysterious, mystical, obscure, occult, ominous, peremptory, portentous, positive, prescient, sage, secret, significant, vague, venerable, wise, Delphian, anticipating, auguring, discovering, divining, divulging, fatidic, forecasting, foretelling, interpretive, mantic, portending, predicting, presaging, proclaiming, prognosticating, prophesying, sibylline, soothsaying, vatic |
| Main Entry: | precarious |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | tricky, doubtful |
| Synonyms: | ambiguous, borderline, chancy, contingent, dangerous, delicate, dicey*, dubious, dynamite, equivocal, hairy*, hazardous, iffy*, indecisive, insecure, loaded, open, out on a limb*, perilous, problematic, risky, rocky, rugged*, sensitive, shaky, slippery, ticklish, touchy, uncertain, unhealthy, unreliable, unsafe, unsettled, unstable, unsteady, unsure, hanging by a thread, impugnable, on thin ice, touch and go |
| Antonyms: | certain, definite, firm, stable, strong, sure, undoubted |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | problematic |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | open to doubt |
| Synonyms: | ambiguous, arguable, chancy, debatable, disputable, doubtful, dubious, enigmatic, iffy*, indecisive, moot, open, precarious, puzzling, questionable, suspect, tricky, uncertain, unsettled, dubitable, problematical, up for grabs |
| Antonyms: | certain, settled, solvable, sure, fixable |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | puzzling |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | confusing |
| Synonyms: | abstruse, ambiguous, baffling, difficult, enigmatic, hard, incomprehensible, inexplicable, involved, knotty, labyrinthine, misleading, obscure, perplexing, surprising, unaccountable, unclear, unfathomable, bewildering, beyond one, mystifying |
| Antonyms: | intelligible, understandable, comprehendible |
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition
Copyright © 2009 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
