ambivalence
pronunciation
How to pronounce ambivalence in British English:
UK [æm'bɪvələns]
How to pronounce ambivalence in American English:
US [æmˈbɪvələns]
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- Noun:
- mixed feelings or emotions
Word Origin
- ambivalence (n.)
- "simultaneous conflicting feelings," 1924 (1912 as ambivalency), from German Ambivalenz, coined 1910 by Swiss psychologist Eugen Bleuler (1857-1939) on model of German Equivalenz "equivalence," etc., from Latin ambi- "both" (see ambi-) + valentia "strength," from present participle of valere "be strong" (see valiant). A psychological term that by 1929 had taken on a broader literary and general sense.
Example
- 1. Dealing with ambivalence doesn 't always mean eliminating it .
- 2. That reflects reduced aid for family planning in the past 15 years and political ambivalence about cutting fertility in africa itself .
- 3. But lately ambivalence is turning into out-and-out royalism .
- 4. Public opinion reflects this ambivalence .
- 5. Perhaps god 's ambivalence springs from uncertainty about whose side he is on .