ambivalent
/æmˈbɪv.ə.lənt/adjective
ambivalent is spelled A-M-B-I-V-A-L-E-N-T: 10 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 1.0 times per million words in written English, the 28,556th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, ambivalent means “Simultaneously experiencing or expressing opposing or contradictory feelings, beliefs, motivations, or meanings” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in ambivalent?
| Letters | 10: A-M-B-I-V-A-L-E-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.0 times per million words; the 28,556th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is ambivalent?
Ambivalent appears 1.0 times per million words in written English, the 28,556th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce ambivalent?
- US /æmˈbɪv.ə.lənt/
Ambivalent has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-ambivalent.wav, En-us-ambivalent.ogg, En-au-ambivalent.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of ambivalent
- more ambivalent comparative
- most ambivalent superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does ambivalent mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Simultaneously experiencing or expressing opposing or contradictory feelings, beliefs, motivations, or meanings.
- 2
Alternately being or having one opinion or feeling, and then the opposite.
His feelings toward his parents are ambivalent.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Ambivalent in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense experiencing or expressing opposing feelings:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | ambivalent |
| German | ambivalent, doppelwertig, zwiespältig |
| Portuguese | ambivalente |
| Spanish | ambivalente |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does ambivalent come from?
Back-formation from ambivalence, from German Ambivalenz, from Latin ambi- (“in two ways”) + valeō (“be strong”); equivalent to ambi- + -valent. Compare ambivert.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).