unambiguousun‧am‧big‧u‧ous /ˌʌnæmˈbɪɡjuəs◂/ ●○○ AWL adjective - an unambiguous message
- In last night's speech, the president finally made an unambiguous statement on the issue of taxes.
- Safety guidelines need to be plain and unambiguous.
- He speaks in tones which, whatever else can be said of them, are unambiguous.
- It might be thought that such tenets were unambiguous enough in a democracy to be assured the most rigorous defence.
- Needless to say, the police were already familiar with the thief and absolutely delighted upon the production of such unambiguous evidence.
- Such communications should be clear and unambiguous.
- There are possible offsetting arguments concerning internal structure, but these are in any case not unambiguous in their directional effect.
- There is no Truth, nor any unambiguous criterion for agreeing upon what constitutes correct knowledge about society.
- There is therefore an unambiguous increase in both wages and membership, as illustrated in Fig. 3.
clear and easy to understand► clear · The instructions aren't really clear.clear on/about · Children need clear rules about what is allowed and what isn't· You're not allowed to use a dictionary in this exam. The rules are quite clear on this point.clear to somebody · It may be clear to you, but I haven't got a clue what it means.crystal clear (=extremely clear) · Though he didn't say anything directly his meaning was crystal clear.
► plain language, instructions etc that are plain are easy to understand because there is nothing difficult or unnecessary in them that might be confusing: · She spoke slowly and carefully, using plain simple language.· The document is written in plain English.
► unambiguous having only one possible meaning and therefore clear: · Safety guidelines need to be plain and unambiguous.· In last night's speech, the president finally made an unambiguous statement on the issue of taxes.
► explicit: explicit instructions/account/warning etc expressed very clearly and including every detail, so that no part of your meaning is hidden: · Mr Beazley left explicit instructions that he wasn't to be disturbed.· I don't quite understand -- could you be a bit more explicit?explicit about: · He's not being very explicit about his plans, is he?
► unequivocal formal so clear that the meaning or intention cannot be mistaken or doubted: · The European Parliament has given the plan its unequivocal support.· The answer to our request was an unequivocal "no".· This time his father was unequivocal: "You're getting no more money from me, and that's final.''
► expressly formal if you expressly state something, you state it very clearly and firmly, usually in writing: expressly state something: · Although it's not expressly stated in your contract, you are expected to attend weekend training sessions.· It is expressly stated in the sales agreement that the buyer is to pay for any home inspection.expressly forbid something: · The new law expressly forbids the importation of radioactive waste.
nounambiguityadjectiveambiguous ≠ unambiguousadverbambiguously ≠ unambiguously