ambivalence
Valid in Scrabble
- Scrabble points
- 20
- Words With Friends
- 26
- Letters
- 11
Definition of ambivalence
2 senses · 1 part of speech · etymology included
noun
-
(countable, uncountable)The coexistence of opposing attitudes or feelings (such as love and hate) towards a person, object or idea.
“"I dearly loved my master, son," she said. "You should have hated him," I said. "He gave me several sons," she said, "and because I loved my sons I learned to love their father though I hated him too." "I too have become acquainted with ambivalence, I said.”
“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.””
See all 2 definitions Show less
noun
-
(countable, uncountable)The coexistence of opposing attitudes or feelings (such as love and hate) towards a person, object or idea.
“"I dearly loved my master, son," she said. "You should have hated him," I said. "He gave me several sons," she said, "and because I loved my sons I learned to love their father though I hated him too." "I too have become acquainted with ambivalence, I said.”
“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.””
- (countable, uncountable)A state of uncertainty or indecisiveness.
Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.
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.
Words you can make from ambivalence
200+ playable · top: BIVALENCE (16 pts)
Best play bivalence 16 points9-letter words
1 word8-letter words
12 words7-letter words
21 words- CAVEMAN 14 pts
- CAVEMEN 14 pts
- ALEMBIC 13 pts
- CAMBIAL 13 pts
- CEMBALI 13 pts
- ENCLAVE 12 pts
- VALANCE 12 pts
- VALENCE 12 pts
- VELAMEN 12 pts
- AMEBEAN 11 pts
- AMIABLE 11 pts
- ANAEMIC 11 pts
- BALANCE 11 pts
- CAMELIA 11 pts
- MANACLE 11 pts
- MELANIC 11 pts
- MINABLE 11 pts
- NAMABLE 11 pts
- ABELIAN 9 pts
- LAMINAE 9 pts
- MELAENA 9 pts
6-letter words
55 words- AMEBIC 12 pts
- BECALM 12 pts
- BECAME 12 pts
- CABMAN 12 pts
- CABMEN 12 pts
- CAMBIA 12 pts
- BELIVE 11 pts
- CLEAVE 11 pts
- EVINCE 11 pts
- VIABLE 11 pts
- AMEBAE 10 pts
- AMEBAN 10 pts
- ANEMIC 10 pts
- BAALIM 10 pts
- BEMEAN 10 pts
- BENAME 10 pts
- CAIMAN 10 pts
- CALAMI 10 pts
- CAMAIL 10 pts
- CINEMA 10 pts
- ICEMAN 10 pts
- ICEMEN 10 pts
- LAMBIE 10 pts
- MALICE 10 pts
- MANIAC 10 pts
- MENACE 10 pts
- MILNEB 10 pts
- NIMBLE 10 pts
- ALEVIN 9 pts
- ALVINE 9 pts
- LEAVEN 9 pts
- VALINE 9 pts
- VEINAL 9 pts
- VENIAL 9 pts
- VINEAL 9 pts
- ABELIA 8 pts
- AECIAL 8 pts
- ANEMIA 8 pts
- ANIMAL 8 pts
- ANLACE 8 pts
- BAILEE 8 pts
- BALEEN 8 pts
- BEANIE 8 pts
- ENABLE 8 pts
- ENAMEL 8 pts
- ENLACE 8 pts
- INLACE 8 pts
- LAMIAE 8 pts
- LAMINA 8 pts
- MALINE 8 pts
- MANILA 8 pts
- MEALIE 8 pts
- MEANIE 8 pts
- MELENA 8 pts
- MENIAL 8 pts
5-letter words
93 words- CLIMB 11 pts
- BEVEL 10 pts
- CALVE 10 pts
- CAVIE 10 pts
- CAVIL 10 pts
- CLAVE 10 pts
- CLAVI 10 pts
- MAVEN 10 pts
- MAVIE 10 pts
- MAVIN 10 pts
- VIMEN 10 pts
- VINCA 10 pts
- ABACI 9 pts
- ABEAM 9 pts
- AMBLE 9 pts
- AMEBA 9 pts
- AMICE 9 pts
- AMNIC 9 pts
- BLAME 9 pts
- CABAL 9 pts
- CABIN 9 pts
- CABLE 9 pts
- CAMEL 9 pts
- CEIBA 9 pts
- CELEB 9 pts
- CLAIM 9 pts
- CLIME 9 pts
- LIMBA 9 pts
- MACLE 9 pts
- MALIC 9 pts
- MANEB 9 pts
- MANIC 9 pts
- MELIC 9 pts
- MINCE 9 pts
- ALIVE 8 pts
- ANVIL 8 pts
- AVAIL 8 pts
- AVIAN 8 pts
- ELVEN 8 pts
- LEAVE 8 pts
- LEVIN 8 pts
- LIEVE 8 pts
- LIVEN 8 pts
- NAEVI 8 pts
- NAIVE 8 pts
- NAVAL 8 pts
- NAVEL 8 pts
- NIEVE 8 pts
- NIVAL 8 pts
- VEENA 8 pts
- VENAE 8 pts
- VENAL 8 pts
- VINAL 8 pts
- ABELE 7 pts
- AECIA 7 pts
- AMAIN 7 pts
- AMINE 7 pts
- AMNIA 7 pts
- ANIMA 7 pts
- ANIME 7 pts
- BANAL 7 pts
- BELIE 7 pts
- BINAL 7 pts
- BLAIN 7 pts
- CANAL 7 pts
- CLEAN 7 pts
- CLINE 7 pts
- ELEMI 7 pts
- EMAIL 7 pts
- ENEMA 7 pts
- ILEAC 7 pts
- INCEL 7 pts
- LABIA 7 pts
- LAMIA 7 pts
- LANCE 7 pts
- LEBEN 7 pts
- LEMAN 7 pts
- LIMAN 7 pts
- LIMEN 7 pts
- LINAC 7 pts
- MAILE 7 pts
- MANIA 7 pts
- MINAE 7 pts
- NIECE 7 pts
- ALANE 5 pts
- ALIEN 5 pts
- ALINE 5 pts
- ANELE 5 pts
- ANILE 5 pts
- ELAIN 5 pts
- LANAI 5 pts
- LIANA 5 pts
- LIANE 5 pts
4-letter words
17 wordsHooks
1 extension · 1 back
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