ambivalent

Back-formation from ambivalence, from German Ambivalenz, from Latin ambi- (“in two ways”) + valeō (“be strong”); equivalent to ambi- +‎ -valent.

• (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA^(key): /æmˈbɪv.ə.lənt/

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ambivalent (comparative more ambivalent, superlative most ambivalent)

1. Simultaneously experiencing or expressing opposing or contradictory feelings, beliefs, motivations, or meanings.
   • 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 77:

     In modern burlesque [...] sexual and erotic stimuli are often present in concealed and ambivalent doubles entendres.

   • 2020 January 28, Mairov Zonszein, “Christian Zionist philo-Semitism is driving Trump’s Israel policy”, in The Washington Post‎^[1], archived from the original on 30 January 2020:

     The great sociologist Zygmunt Bauman argued that philo-Semitism and anti-Semitism both fall under “allosemitism”: literally Othering the Jew. He defined it not as resentment of what is different, which is xenophobia, but rather of what defies order and clear categories. In 1997, he wrote, “The Jew is ambivalence incarnate. And ambivalence is ambivalence mostly because it cannot be contemplated without ambivalent feeling: it is simultaneously attractive and repelling.”

2. Alternately being or having one opinion or feeling, and then the opposite.

   His feelings toward his parents are ambivalent.

Ambivalent may be loosely used to denote lacking emotions rather than having conflicting emotions. More appropriate alternatives for a lack of emotion would be indifferent and apathetic.

• (simultaneously experiencing or expressing opposing feelings): conflicted, uncertain, undecided, unresolved
• (alternately feeling opposing feelings): vacillating, fluctuating, wavering

Borrowed from German ambivalent.

• IPA^(key): /ˌɑm.bi.vaːˈlɛnt/

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• Hyphenation: am‧bi‧va‧lent
• Rhymes: -ɛnt

ambivalent (comparative ambivalenter, superlative ambivalentst)

1. ambivalent (simultaneously experiencing conflicting drives) [from early 20th c.]

• ambivalentie

• → Indonesian: ambivalen

Borrowed from German ambivalent, from Latin ambi- + Latin valentem, the latter from the verb valeō.

• IPA^(key): /ɑ̃.bi.va.lɑ̃/

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ambivalent (feminine ambivalente, masculine plural ambivalents, feminine plural ambivalentes)

1. ambivalent
2. ambiguous, equivocal

• “ambivalent”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

From ambi-, ambo and valens (inflected valent-), valeo.

• IPA^(key): /ʔambivaˈlɛnt/

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ambivalent (strong nominative masculine singular ambivalenter, comparative ambivalenter, superlative am ambivalentesten)

1. ambivalent

   Seine Gefühle ihr gegenüber sind ambivalent, sowohl positiv als auch negativ.

   His feelings to her are ambivalent, positive as well as negative.

• Ambivalenz

• “ambivalent” in Duden online
• “ambivalent” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Borrowed from French ambivalent.

ambivalent m or n (feminine singular ambivalentă, masculine plural ambivalenți, feminine and neuter plural ambivalente)

1. ambivalent

ambivalent (not comparable)

1. ambivalent

Often implies calm ambivalence, like in English – not caring much one way or the other due to mixed feelings. Kluven (“torn”) might imply more mentally uncomfortable ambivalence.

• ambivalens

• kluven

• ambivalent in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• ambivalent in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)