How to Use ambivalent in a Sentence

ambivalent

adjective
  • Many are ambivalent about what comes next.
    — Grant Stringer, Mercury News, 26 Mar. 2026
  • Even her two sons feel ambivalent at best these days about winter.
    — Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 19 Dec. 2022
  • For her part, Menard has long been ambivalent about firearms.
    — Jabin Botsford, Washington Post, 27 Mar. 2023
  • Yet the job has always been cursed with a kind of ambivalent status.
    — Ron Elving, NPR, 30 Mar. 2024
  • Mark seemed ambivalent at times urging Brett on and at times telling him to stop.
    — Caroline Hallemann, Town & Country, 27 Sep. 2018
  • The Kurds are ambivalent about joining and view their role as that of a bridge.
    — Felice Friedson, New York Daily News, 10 Mar. 2026
  • All that remains, by the film’s final shot, is an ambivalent wall of sound.
    — Lauren Michele Jackson, The New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2023
  • Mark seemed ambivalent, at times urging Brett on and at times telling him to stop.
    — Fox News, 27 Sep. 2018
  • My ex is ambivalent and does not seem to care whether our daughter stays over the weekends with me or not.
    — Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 28 Aug. 2023
  • In this view, Iraq is at best an ambivalent partner and at worst a tacit foe.
    — Steven Simon and Adam Weinstein, Foreign Affairs, 27 Sep. 2023
  • Hunnam is ambivalent about horror as a genre.
    — Daniel D'addario, Variety, 30 Sep. 2025
  • Your kids may seem ambivalent about school and avoidant about discussing the upcoming year.
    — Megan Marples, CNN, 9 Aug. 2021
  • Some of her coworkers have been ambivalent about joining the union.
    — Azure Gilman, Fortune, 16 Apr. 2022
  • But others were more ambivalent.
    — Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 2 Dec. 2025
  • His sisters were less ambivalent.
    — Rob Picheta, CNN Money, 28 May 2026
  • But the movie’s Gawain is already ambivalent about his calling.
    — Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2021
  • The adults struggle to make peace with young people who are ambivalent about their own salvation.
    — Megan Garber, The Atlantic, 16 June 2021
  • Sure, being ambivalent is painful, but being stuck on one side of an issue is likely worse in the long run.
    — Howie Milstein, Star Tribune, 11 Sep. 2020
  • And the next day, the resident comes out and makes some comments that were highly ambivalent about that event.
    — Fortune Editors, Fortune, 9 Nov. 2023
  • The process has left some other locals ambivalent about the upgrade in status.
    — Graham Averill, Outside Online, 22 Dec. 2020
  • Meanwhile, some in the neighborhood are ambivalent about what’s next.
    — David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times, 23 Mar. 2023
  • Were the Kroenkes too busy, too distracted, too ambivalent?
    — Troy Renck, Denver Post, 7 June 2026
  • Most are, at best, ambivalent about pedestrians.
    — Terry Castleman, Los Angeles Times, 10 Mar. 2026
  • George was famously ambivalent about the emergence of punk and those thrashing sounds.
    — Kaleb Horton, Rolling Stone, 2 Apr. 2025
  • The public is ambivalent about the war, and other events will intervene.
    — Rich Lowry, National Review, 20 Aug. 2021
  • Brigid, a Catholic, is ambivalent about plural marriage.
    — Mary Ann Grossmann, Twin Cities, 19 Apr. 2026
  • Many Russians still support him (or at least are ambivalent), but most, also, do not want to fight.
    — James Nixey, CNN, 23 Sep. 2022
  • On top of that, the show has an ambivalent attitude towards the '80s.
    — Christian Holub, EW.com, 23 July 2022
  • Still, during her life, Hagerty remained ambivalent about her brush with fame.
    — Hannah Shirley, Twin Cities, 16 Sep. 2025
  • But there's got to be room for an eyebrow raise and an ambivalent shuffle-step to the side when something new rolls up the parade route.
    — Chelsea Brasted, NOLA.com, 11 Jan. 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ambivalent.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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