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ambiguous
[am-big-yoo-uhs] 
| Main Entry: |
ambiguous
[am-big-yoo-uhs]
|
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | having more than one meaning |
| Synonyms: | clear as dishwater, cryptic, doubtful, dubious, enigmatic, enigmatical, equivocal, inconclusive, indefinite, indeterminate, inexplicit, muddy, multivocal, obscure, opaque, polysemous, puzzling, questionable, tenebrous, uncertain, unclear, unintelligible, vague |
| Notes: | ambiguous is vague by accident or intent; equivocal is vague by intent |
| Antonyms: | clear, definite, explicit, lucid |
| Main Entry: | borderline |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | inexact |
| Synonyms: | ambiguous, ambivalent, doubtful, dubitable, equivocal, indecisive, indefinite, indeterminate, marginal, open, problematic, uncertain, unclassifiable, unclear, undecided, unsettled |
| Antonyms: | certain, definite, exact, sure |
| Main Entry: | cryptic |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | secret; obscure in meaning |
| Synonyms: | Delphian, Delphic, abstruse, ambiguous, apocryphal, arcane, cabalistic, dark, enigmatic, equivocal, esoteric, evasive, hidden, incomprehensible, inexplicable, murky, mysterious, mystic, mystical, mystifying, occult, opaque, oracular, perplexing, puzzling, recondite, secretive, strange, tenebrous, unclear, unfathomable, uninformative, vague, veiled |
| Notes: | cryptic coloration helps conceal an animal; phaneric coloration makes an animal stand out |
| Antonyms: | clear, obvious, plain, seen, straightforward |
| Main Entry: | deceptive |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | dishonest |
| Synonyms: | ambiguous, astucious, beguiling, bum*, catchy, crafty, cunning, deceitful, deceiving, deluding, delusive, delusory, designing, disingenuous, fake, fallacious, false, fishy, foxy, fraudulent, illusory, imposturous, 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 |
| Antonyms: | forthright, frank, honest, open, truthful, upright |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | devious |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | crooked; indirect |
| Synonyms: | ambiguous, bending, circuitous, confounding, confusing, curving, detouring, deviating, digressing, digressory, diverting, errant, erratic, excursive, flexuous, misleading, obscure, out-of-the-way, rambling, remote, removed, roundabout, serpentine, straying, tortuous, twisting, wandering |
| Antonyms: | direct, straight |
| Main Entry: | doubtful |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | questionable, unclear |
| Synonyms: | ambiguous, borderline, chancy, clouded, contingent, debatable, dicey, disreputable, doubtable, dubious, dubitable, equivocal, far-fetched, fat chance, fishy, hazardous, hazy, iffy, impugnable, inconclusive, indecisive, indefinite, indeterminate, indistinct, insecure, long shot, obscure, on thin ice, open, pending, precarious, problematic, shady, sneaky*, speculative, suspect, suspicious, touch-and-go, touchy, uncertain, unconfirmed, undecided, uneasy, unsettled, unstable, unsure, up for grabs |
| Antonyms: | certain, clear, confirmed, decided, definite, exact, resolved, settled, unquestionable |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | dubious |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | vague, unclear |
| Synonyms: | ambiguous, debatable, disinclined, doubtful, equivocal, indefinite, indeterminate, mistrustful, obscure, open, problematic, problematical, undecided, unsettled |
| Antonyms: | certain, clear, definite, unambiguous, unobscure |
| Main Entry: | elusive |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | evasive, mysterious |
| Synonyms: | ambiguous, baffling, cagey, deceitful, deceptive, difficult to catch, elusory, equivocal, evanescent, fallacious, fleeting, fraudulent, fugacious, fugitive, greasy, illusory, imponderable, incomprehensible, indefinable, insubstantial, intangible, misleading, occult, phantom, puzzling, shifty, shy, slippery, stonewalling, subtle, transient, transitory, tricky, unspecific, volatile |
| Antonyms: | attracting, confronting, encountering, enticing, facing, inviting |
| Main Entry: | enigmatic/enigmatical |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | mysterious |
| Synonyms: | Delphian, Sibylline, ambiguous, cryptic, dark, doubtful, equivocal, incomprehensible, indecipherable, inexplicable, inscrutable, obscure, occult, oracular, perplexing, puzzling, recondite, secret, sphinxlike, stickling, stumping, teasing, uncertain, unfathomable, unintelligible |
| Antonyms: | clear, obvious, unmysterious |
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition
Copyright © 2012 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2012 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
