ambidextrous
/ˌæm.bɪˈdɛk.stɹəs/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 2.38 in modern English
24
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
4
Syllables
12
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Having equal or comparable ability in both hands; in particular, able to write well with both hands.
adj
Equally usable by left-handed and right-handed people (as a tool or instrument).
Example Sentences
- "Some are […]ambidextrous or right-handed on both sides; which happeneth only unto strong and athletical bodies, whose heat and spirits are able to afford an ability unto both."
- "All False, Shuffling, and Ambidextrous Dealings."
- "Michelangelo was a very ambidextrous artist, producing sculptures and frescoes with equal ability."
- "For years, by every possible device, we have been raising the prices of our agricultural products against the foreign buyers […] by every device known to the ambidextrous tradesman and financier. The result is that we have raised up other and unexpected competitors in the markets of the world."
- "In a footnote, these admirers will often bemoan Agee as a Renaissance or at least ambidextrous artist in an age of specialization, a vast and turbulent ocean syphoned off through a garden hose; not just a novelist manque but also a frustrated […]"
- "He also played the piano and violin, was an ambidextrous artist, and enjoyed acting. Holidays were spent yachting or canoeing or with his brothers. By 1903, Baden-Powell's military training manual, Aids to Scouting, had become a best-seller,[…]"
Etymology
From Medieval Latin ambidexter + -ous, the former from ambi- (“both”) + dexter (“right”), thus literally “both hands being like a right hand”. By surface analysis, ambi- (“both”) + dextrous (“skillful; agile”). The Latin word is first attested in the Vetus Latina, calquing Ancient Greek ἀμφοτεροδέξιος (amphoterodéxios) in Judges 3:15 after the Septuagint, itself translating Hebrew אִטֵּר יַד יְמִינוֹ (iṭṭēr yaḏ yəmīnō, literally “bound in his right hand”). This phrase is now generally translated as “left-handed”; the Septuagint translation is either from a variant reading or from a different interpretation.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Prefix: ambidexter
- Root: *deḱs-, ἀμφοτεροδέξιος
- Suffix: -ous
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌæm.bɪˈdɛk.stɹəs/
- British English: /ˌæm.biˈdɛk.stɹəs/
Usage
Inflected Forms
more ambidextrous (comparative)
most ambidextrous (superlative)