ambidextrous
Adjective
- equally skillful with each hand
- "an ambidextrous surgeon"
Adjective Satellite
- marked by deliberate deceptiveness especially by pretending one set of feelings and acting under the influence of another; - Israel Zangwill; ; - W.M.Thackeray
Adj
- Having equal ability in both hands; in particular, able to write equally well with both hands.
- Equally usable by left-handed and right-handed people (as a tool or instrument).
- Practising or siding with both parties.
- Of a person, bisexual.
- Exceptionally skillful; adept in more than one medium, genre, style, etc.
Examples
- Michelangelo was a very ambidextrous artist, producing sculptures and frescoes with equal ability.
Origin / Etymology
From Medieval Latin ambidexter + -ous, the former from ambi- (“both”) + dexter (“right”), thus literally “both hands being like a right hand”.
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.
Synonyms
deceitful, double-dealing, double-faced, double-tongued, duplicitous, Janus-faced, two-faced, two-handed, both-handed, either-handed
Antonyms
left-handed, right-handed, ambilevous, ambisinistrous
Scrabble Score: 24
ambidextrous: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordambidextrous: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
ambidextrous: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary