ambiguousness
State of uncertainty
Ambiguousness is the quality of being open to more than one interpretation or understanding.
It is the noun form of ambiguous and shares meaning with the more common ambiguity.
The ambiguousness of the contract language led to months of litigation.
While both nouns work in most contexts, ambiguity tends to appear more often in formal and academic writing, while ambiguousness emphasizes the state or condition of something being unclear.
Unclear and formless
- impreciseLacking exactness or accuracy
- indefiniteNot precisely determined
- indistinctUnclear, hard to perceive
- unclearNot easily understood
fuzzy · muddled · murky · unspecific · amorphous · hazy · ill-defined · inexact
Lack of firm belief
- indecisionFailure to decide
- hesitationDelay from uncertainty
- indeterminacyLack of fixed outcome
- tentativenessState of being uncertain
inconclusiveness · equivocality · questionable · undecided · open-ended · unsettled · debatable · inconclusive
Speak vaguely to mislead
- doublespeakDeliberately misleading language
- prevaricateSpeak misleadingly to deceive
- hedgingNoncommittal maneuvering
- evasiveAvoiding direct response
noncommittal · waffle · double-entendre · quibble · polysemous · circumlocution · double meaning · weasel words
Puzzling and obscure
- crypticObscure in meaning
- inscrutableImpossible to understand
- opaqueImpassable to light
- obscureUnknown to most
mysterious · puzzling · perplexing · baffling · unfathomable · elusive · impenetrable · sphinx-like
Causing false beliefs
- deceptiveCreating false impressions
- misrepresentationFalse or misleading statement
- distortionTwisting from original state
- manipulationUnderhanded control of others
obfuscation · disinformation · red herring · spin · misdirection · smoke and mirrors · sleight of hand · subterfuge
nebulous
Unclear and formless
- impreciseLacking exactness or accuracy
- indefiniteNot precisely determined
- indistinctUnclear, hard to perceive
unclear · fuzzy · muddled · murky · unspecific · amorphous · hazy · ill-defined · inexact · nonspecific
doubt
Lack of firm belief
- indecisionFailure to decide
- hesitationDelay from uncertainty
- indeterminacyLack of fixed outcome
tentativeness · inconclusiveness · equivocality · questionable · undecided · open-ended · unsettled · debatable · inconclusive · unresolved
equivocate
Speak vaguely to mislead
- doublespeakDeliberately misleading language
- prevaricateSpeak misleadingly to deceive
- hedgingNoncommittal maneuvering
evasive · noncommittal · waffle · double-entendre · quibble · polysemous · circumlocution · double meaning · weasel words · fence-sitting
enigmatic
Puzzling and obscure
- crypticObscure in meaning
- inscrutableImpossible to understand
- opaqueImpassable to light
obscure · mysterious · puzzling · perplexing · baffling · unfathomable · elusive · impenetrable · sphinx-like · oracular
misleading
Causing false beliefs
- deceptiveCreating false impressions
- misrepresentationFalse or misleading statement
- distortionTwisting from original state
manipulation · obfuscation · disinformation · red herring · spin · misdirection · smoke and mirrors · sleight of hand · subterfuge
ambiguousnessclarity
State of being understandable
clearness · unambiguousness · lucidity · perspicuity · intelligibility
ambiguousnessdefiniteness
Quality of being exact
exactness · precision · explicitness · specificity · certainty
ambiguousnessstraightforwardness
Quality of being direct
forthrightness · directness · obviousness · certainty · self-evidence