# ambivalence

> English word · Noun · IPA /æmˈbɪvələns/ · frequency rank #36,859

## Definitions
1. The coexistence of opposing attitudes or feelings (such as love and hate) towards a person, object or idea.
2. A state of uncertainty or indecisiveness.

## Etymology
Borrowed from German Ambivalenz (“simultaneous conflicting feelings”), from Latin ambi- (“both”) and valentia (“strength”), from the verb valere (“to be strong”) (see valiant); spelled on the model of French-origin words ending in -ence. The German term was coined by Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler in 1910; by 1929, it had taken on a broader literary and general sense. Equivalent to ambi- + valence.

## Easily confused with
- **ambivalent** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ambivalence-vs-ambivalent)

## Common misspellings (17)
`abmivalence`, `ambbivalence`, `ambiavlence`, `ambivaelnce`, `ambivalance`, `ambivalecne`, `ambivalencce`, `ambivalenec`, `ambivalennce`, `ambivallence`, `ambivalnece`, `ambivlaence`, `ambivvalence`, `ambvialence`, `amibvalence`, `ammbivalence`, `mabivalence`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/ambivalence