Ambivalent

Use this forum to discuss past Good Words.
User avatar
Dr. Goodword
Site Admin
Posts: 7452
Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:28 am
Location: Lewisburg, PA
Contact:

Ambivalent

Postby Dr. Goodword » Sat Nov 19, 2016 11:52 pm

• ambivalent •

Pronunciation: æm-bi-vê-lênt • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Adjective

Meaning: 1. Vacillating between two contraries, unsure as to two conflicting choices. 2. Indecisive, hesitant in resolving some issue.

Notes: Today's word sports two similar nouns, ambivalence or ambivalency. Your choice. Also, be careful not to confuse ambivalent with ambiguous. An ambiguous statement is unclear, imprecise, allowing more than one interpretation. An ambivalent person is torn between two possibilities.

In Play: Ambivalence often entails hesitancy: "King Fischer III was ambivalent about going to war over the mild insult to his dog by the potentate of neighboring Sacristan." However, ambivalence can also be a long-lived, permanent state: "The widely ignored Greek philosopher Hepatitus was ambivalent as to whether society should change or remain the same, but he took a jaundiced view of change directed by the government."

Word History: Following the pattern of equivalent : equivalence, English derived today's Good Word from the borrowed German word Ambivalenz. The Germans created this word from the Latin prefix ambi- "both, about, around", the same prefix we see on ambiguous and ambidextrous, + valentia "vigor", from valen(t)s, the present participle of valere "to be strong". The root of this verb, val- refers to strength, and is found in a litany of borrowed words like valor, valid, and value. The same Proto-Indo-European root became wield in English and, in Russian, vlast' "power". Ma vlast, the symphonic poems composed by Bedrich Smetana, means "My country" in Czech. (We can unambivalently thank Mohammad Salah for suggesting today's Good Word in the Alpha Agora.)
• The Good Dr. Goodword

User avatar
Slava
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 8109
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:31 am
Location: Finger Lakes, NY

Re: Ambivalent

Postby Slava » Mon Jan 16, 2017 8:15 am

No two ways about it, ambivalent is a good word.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.


Return to “Good Word Discussion”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Ahrefs [Bot] and 34 guests