Added 10 October 2026
ambivalence
/æmˈbɪvələns/ noun
Latin root: ambi Coined: 1910, by Eugen Bleuler Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about ambivalence at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- The coexistence of opposing attitudes or feelings (such as love and hate) towards a person, object or idea.
- A state of uncertainty or indecisiveness.
Origin
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.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)