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ambivalent

æmˈbɪvələntadjective

What does ambivalent mean?

Having mixed feelings about something, pulled both ways.

Ambivalent, six ways

PlainHaving mixed feelings about something, pulled both ways.
ADHDTorn. Want it. Don’t want it. Both.
Gen ZWhen you can’t decide because you feel both things at once.
MetaphorTwo hands on one rope, pulling opposite ways.
FormalHaving mixed or contradictory feelings about something or someone.
Like I’m 5When you feel two opposite things at the same time about something. That’s ambivalent.

How to pronounce ambivalent

am-BIV-uh-lunt/æmˈbɪvələnt/

Ambivalent in a sentence

She felt ambivalent about moving back.
I’m ambivalent about the party: good people, long drive.
Many readers were ambivalent about the ending.

Synonyms for ambivalent

tornPlainer, and it hurts more.
conflictedThe same pull, said of a mind.
indifferentNot the same: no feeling either way.

Where ambivalent comes from

German. Ambivalenz, coined by the psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler in 1910 from Latin ambi-, both, and valere, to be strong.

Good to know

Ambivalent is feeling two ways at once, not feeling little. If you don’t care either way, the word is indifferent.

Ambivalent meaning, on a Gloss card: Having mixed feelings about something, pulled both ways.

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In: Words for feelings · SAT words · Latin and Greek roots