mixed feelings
Torn both ways
Mixed feelings describes simultaneous conflicting emotions about something—attraction and repulsion, hope and dread, affection and resentment.
The phrase acknowledges emotional complexity without resolving it: I have mixed feelings about the promotion—more money but longer hours.
Someone with mixed feelings is ambivalent, pulled in opposing directions at once.
Failure to decide
- uncertaintyState of being unsure
- hesitationDelay from uncertainty
- doubtLack of firm belief
- waveringShowing unsteady resolve
equivocation · vacillation · noncommittal · fence-sitting · reservation · tentativeness · on the fence · torn
Wistful yet warm
- nostalgiaLonging for the past
- wistfulSadly longing for something
- melancholySubdued, lasting sadness
- longingIntense, persistent desire
yearning · pensive · uneasy · disquiet · restlessness · troubled · vexed · perturbed
Violent disturbance or confusion
- struggleLabored effort against resistance
- tug-of-warCompetitive rope-pulling contest
- dissonanceLack of harmony
- torn apartForcibly separated into pieces
crossroads · dilemma · quandary · cognitive dissonance · push and pull · divided loyalties · caught between · second-guessing
Uncertain of truth
- unsureLacking confidence or certainty
- tentativeUncertain and provisional
- hesitantSlow to act
- skepticalInclined to question claims
questioning · unconvinced · dubious · wary · leery · mistrustful · guarded · cautious
indecision
Failure to decide
- uncertaintyState of being unsure
- hesitationDelay from uncertainty
- doubtLack of firm belief
wavering · equivocation · vacillation · noncommittal · fence-sitting · reservation · tentativeness · on the fence · torn · conflicted
bittersweet
Wistful yet warm
- nostalgiaLonging for the past
- wistfulSadly longing for something
- melancholySubdued, lasting sadness
longing · yearning · pensive · uneasy · disquiet · restlessness · troubled · vexed · perturbed · disconcerted
turmoil
Violent disturbance or confusion
- struggleLabored effort against resistance
- tug-of-warCompetitive rope-pulling contest
- dissonanceLack of harmony
torn apart · crossroads · dilemma · quandary · cognitive dissonance · push and pull · divided loyalties · caught between · second-guessing · self-doubt
doubtful
Uncertain of truth
skeptical · questioning · unconvinced · dubious · wary · leery · mistrustful · guarded · cautious · iffy
- mixed emotionsambivalence, bittersweet, love-hate, inner conflict, conflicted
- emotionsjoy, anger, fear, sadness, love
- emotional strugglesinner turmoil, inner conflict, emotional pain, heartbreak, sadness
- indecisionindecision, indecisiveness, conflicted, hesitation, indecisive
- inner turmoilinner turmoil, inner conflict, inner struggle, self-doubt, indecision
- reluctancereluctance, unwillingness, disinclination, hesitation, reticence
mixed feelingscertainty
Total absence of doubt
clarity · single-mindedness · clear conscience · black and white · cut and dried
mixed feelingsall in
Fully committed, nothing reserved
wholehearted · unreserved · wholeheartedness · unqualified · unconditional love
feel, feeling, mixed, mixture, mixer, mixing, mixes, unmixed, mixers