ambivalent
adjective
Simple meaning
Simultaneously experiencing or expressing opposing or contradictory feelings, beliefs, motivations.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ambivuhluhntSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
æmˈbɪvələnt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Simultaneously experiencing or expressing opposing or contradictory feelings, beliefs, motivations, or meanings.
Alternately being or having one opinion or feeling, and then the opposite.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Simultaneously experiencing or expressing opposing or contradictory feelings, beliefs, motivations, or meanings.
Used this way, ambivalent is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Word Forms
Ambivalent · Ambivalence · Ambivalently
Where This Word Comes From
From early 20th-century psychology: Latin 'ambi-' (both) plus 'valentia' (strength), pulled strongly in both directions.
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What Does It Mean Here?
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Vocabulary
Words for Mixed and Difficult Emotions
Precise vocabulary for complicated feelings that mix two emotions at once, such as bittersweet nostalgia, guilty relief, and wistful longing.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary Levels Explained: A1 to C2
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.