1
as in questionable
giving good reason for being doubted, questioned, or challenged
the evidence that this latest diet really results in lasting weight loss is certainly equivocal
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in ambiguous
having an often intentionally veiled or uncertain meaning
he responded to the reporter's questions with equivocal answers or refusals to comment
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in unsure
having a mixture of opposing feelings
a number of people are clearly equivocal about allowing casino gambling in the state
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of equivocal
However, for higher dose, systemic estrogen therapy — which is absorbed into the blood stream — including estrogen pills, Christmas and other menopause experts are more equivocal about removing the black box warning.
—
Allison Aubrey, NPR, 11 Nov. 2025
But both the text and the history of Article II are far more equivocal than the current Court has been suggesting.
—Adeola Adeosun, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Oct. 2025
Western blot: If the ELISA is positive or equivocal, this more specific test is used to help confirm the presence of Lyme antibodies.
—Matthew Binnicker, Forbes.com, 1 Aug. 2025
And yet, by the time of Borlaug’s death, his accomplishments were looking increasingly equivocal.
—Elizabeth Kolbert, New Yorker, 23 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for equivocal
Allison Aubrey, NPR, 11 Nov. 2025
But both the text and the history of Article II are far more equivocal than the current Court has been suggesting.
—Adeola Adeosun, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Oct. 2025
Western blot: If the ELISA is positive or equivocal, this more specific test is used to help confirm the presence of Lyme antibodies.
—Matthew Binnicker, Forbes.com, 1 Aug. 2025
And yet, by the time of Borlaug’s death, his accomplishments were looking increasingly equivocal.
—Elizabeth Kolbert, New Yorker, 23 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for equivocal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for equivocal
Adjective
-
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said before tipoff Sunday that the team was prepared to play with or without Wembanyama, who was listed as questionable going into the game.—
Anne M. Peterson,
Chicago Tribune,
27 Apr. 2026
-
Preemptive strikes are a very questionable tactic unless the evidence of necessity is overwhelming.—
Gary Franks,
Hartford Courant,
26 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
And that ambiguous statement raised alarms not just with workers but also with human rights groups such as Amnesty International, which issued a World Cup travel advisory for visitors planning on attending the tournament.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
1 May 2026
-
The official public warnings for the next Soyuz rocket launch from Plesetsk were even more ambiguous, covering various periods between April 1 and 15.—
Ashley Belanger,
ArsTechnica,
30 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
About one quarter, 26%, remain unsure; that response is unchanged since the youth poll's fall 2025 survey.—
Kathryn Palmer,
USA Today,
23 Apr. 2026
-
Looking unsure and a bit lost, VIPs from the Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami straggle into the dim underground garage of a nondescript Little Havana strip mall on a recent Saturday morning.—
Carl Juste,
Miami Herald,
22 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The Americans exported violence in the form of counterterrorism and police trainings to as many as eighty-five countries, from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia to Niger to the Philippines, as well as blueprints for dubious legal frameworks to justify their actions.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Apr. 2026
-
That dubious honor belongs to the period between March 1973 and March 1981, when prices rose a whopping 104%, according to calculations from CNN’s Alicia Wallace.—
Jeanne Sahadi,
CNN Money,
29 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
But even in its most opposing moments, from its depths of disintegration to its peaks of pattern-building, Spirals/Viral has a cryptic unity.—
Reed Jackson,
SPIN,
24 Apr. 2026
-
George traces mentalism back to the Oracle of Delphi in ancient Greece, who purported to deliver divine — and cryptic — messages from Apollo.—
Rachel Treisman,
NPR,
23 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
But these unknown early writings suggest that he may be better understood as an immigrant writer—one of the gifted, ambivalent outsiders who remade American literature after World War II—whose most astonishing achievement was the all-American voice of On the Road and the books that came after.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
24 Apr. 2026
-
The book’s ambivalent nostalgia has not kept it from succeeding prodigiously.—
Becca Rothfeld,
New Yorker,
23 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Speech — Intimidation as censorship The First Amendment protects disputable speech, not agreeable.—
Brielle Miller,
Baltimore Sun,
9 Mar. 2026
-
That disputable appraisal turned a few heads, and people began peppering the bot for further remarks on Musk’s physical prowess.—
Miles Klee,
Rolling Stone,
20 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
Umpires, afraid of being overturned, or at least, more aware of the new zone and its limitations, have been calling fewer strikes.—
Ian Miller OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
29 Apr. 2026
-
Almost half are personally afraid of losing their job to AI, ranking it among the most acute individual stressors measured in the survey.—
Jessica Guynn,
USA Today,
28 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Equivocal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/equivocal. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
