ambivalent en · ADJ
Pronunciation
Etymology
Back-formation from ambivalence, from German Ambivalenz, from Latin ambi- (“in two ways”) + valeō (“be strong”); equivalent to ambi- + -valent. Compare ambivert.
Meanings
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Simultaneously experiencing or expressing opposing or contradictory feelings, beliefs, motivations, or meanings.
In modern burlesque [...] sexual and erotic stimuli are often present in concealed and ambivalent doubles entendres.
1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 77:The great sociologist Zygmunt Bauman argued that philo-Semitism and anti-Semitism both fall under “allosemitism”: literally Othering the Jew. He defined it not as resentment of what is different, which is xenophobia, but rather of what defies order and clear categories. In 1997, he wrote, “The Jew is ambivalence incarnate. And ambivalence is ambivalence mostly because it cannot be contemplated without ambivalent feeling: it is simultaneously attractive and repelling.”
2020 January 28, Mairov Zonszein, “Christian Zionist philo-Semitism is driving Trump’s Israel policy”, in The Washington Post, archived from the original on 30 Jan 2020:
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Alternately being or having one opinion or feeling, and then the opposite.
His feelings toward his parents are ambivalent.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| more ambivalent | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| most ambivalent | Degree=Sup | lexicographic |
Deriveds
nonambivalent · preambivalent · ambivalently · unambivalent
Relateds
ambivalence · ambiguous · equivalent
Synonyms
conflicted (simultaneously experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · uncertain (simultaneously experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · vacillating (alternately feeling opposing feelings) · undecided (simultaneously experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · wavering (alternately feeling opposing feelings) · unresolved (simultaneously experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · fluctuating (alternately feeling opposing feelings)
Translations (46)
ru противоречи́вый (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · it ambivalente (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · id ragu-ragu (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · de doppelwertig (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · id dwimuka (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · nl ambivalent (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · fi kaksijakoinen (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · de zwiespältig (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · hu ambivalens (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · fi ambivalentti (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · sv ambivalent (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · tr ikircikli (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · es ambivalente (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · sv kluven (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · id ambivalen (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · id ragu (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · ru дво́йственный (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · mi rangirua (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · fr ambivalent (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · ko 반대감정이 공존하는 (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · tr kararsız (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · sk ambivalentný (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · th สองจิตสองใจ (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · hy հակասական (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · fi epäröivä (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · tr ikircimli (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · sk rozporuplný (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · ja どっちつかず (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · pt ambivalente (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · ca ambivalent (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · mi whēangaanga (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · yue 矛盾 (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · fi ristiriitainen (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · pl ambiwalentny (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · id bimbang (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · nl ambivalente (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · bg двойствен (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · cs rozporuplný (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · mi ngākaurua (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · cs ambivalentní (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · cmn 矛盾 (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · de ambivalent (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · io ambivalenta (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · tr mütereddit (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · hy ոչ միանշանակ (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings) · bg противоречив (experiencing or expressing opposing feelings)