NSW Selective & Scholarship

Learn “Ambivalence

A free exam-vocabulary guide with a precise meaning, natural context and a memory connection that makes the word easier to retrieve.

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NSW Selective & Scholarship

Ambivalence

noun/am-BIV-uh-lunce/

The feeling of having two opposite feelings about something at the same time.

His ambivalence about the trip showed as he kept changing his mind.

Ambivalence = ambi (both) + valence (feelings) — you feel both ways about the same thing.

Use for mixed, conflicting feelings, not just simple doubt or dislike.