It’s time again for some fun with words! I love to ratchet up my vocabulary, both for conversational purposes and of course for fiction writing. I have always found that a well-told story is even more enjoyable to me if it is populated with rich language. So I’m sharing my passion for language with you.

The word ambivalent

I love this word because it is versatile; it can have several different meanings that are related but are actually fairly different, depending on context. For example, you’ll hear it said in a way that means “whatever; I’m okay with both options,” as well as “I kind of like that and I kind of don’t,” “I am just not very interested,” among other uses. I found various definitions in different online dictionaries.

• Pronunciation: This word is pronounced “am-biv-uh-luh nt.”
• Definition: This is an adjective that means indecisive, having mixed feelings, or unable to make a decision. I also found this definition: In psychology, ambivalence is defined as the mental disharmony or disconnect a person may feel when having both positive and negative feelings regarding the same individual.
• How to use it: The word “ambivalent” is great when you need a word that means caught in indecision, “of two minds” (like the image so aptly illustrates), unsure of how to feel about something, or a lack of interest.
• Other forms of the word: ambivalently (adverb) and ambivalence (noun).

Example sentences:

Here’s an example from wordsinasentence.com, where the word indicates a lack of interest: Although Janice loved Henry, her ambivalence towards marriage made her turn down his proposal.

This sentence indicates a loss of interest: Brian had wanted to go to the movie, but when he saw that it was rated G, he suddenly felt ambivalent.

And here’s a little story vignette that shows an inability to to make a decision:
Tracy and Anna walked to the ice cream store, hand in hand. They each had one shiny quarter, exactly the price of an ice cream cone. Tracy wanted chocolate. But when Anna said she was getting vanilla with sprinkles, Tracy kind of wanted that instead. She had been thinking about chocolate all day, though. How long would it be before she got a quarter again? She was ambivalent; chocolate or vanilla with sprinkles?

Words to learn format

If you’d like to share some of your favorite words, here’s the basic format:

Provide the word, the pronunciation, the definition, a description of how and when to use it, and a few sentence examples. You may also want to list any other forms of the word, and a description of what you like about the word. Then please use #learnwords as one of your tags.

Thanks for reading!