Meanings
comparative more ambidextrous · superlative most ambidextrous
- Having equal or comparable ability in both hands; in particular, able to write well with both hands.
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.
1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC - Equally usable by left-handed and right-handed people (as a tool or instrument).
- archaicPractising or siding with both parties.
All False, Shuffling, and Ambidextrous Dealings.
1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC - humorousOf a person, bisexual.
- Exceptionally skillful; adept in more than one medium, genre, style, etc.
Michelangelo was a very ambidextrous artist, producing sculptures and frescoes with equal ability.
3 more examples
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.
1884, The British Trade Journal and Export World, page 558In 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 […]
1998, Alan Spiegel, James Agee and the Legend of Himself: A Critical Study, University of Missouri Press, →ISBN, page 12He 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,[…]
2014, Pamela Lillian Valemont, Beauty Queen Murder - Allison Baden-Clay, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 49
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivemarked by deliberate deceptiveness especially by pretending one set of feelings and acting under the influence of another
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekἀμφοτεροδέξιος
- Englishambidextrous
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.
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic أَضْبَط
- أَضْبَط (ʔaḍbaṭ)having equal ability in both hands
Bengali সব্যসাচী
- সব্যসাচী (śobbośaci)having equal ability in both hands
Catalan ambidextre
- ambidextrehaving equal ability in both hands
Chinese Mandarin 雙手靈巧的 /双手灵巧的
- 雙手靈巧的 /双手灵巧的 (shuāngshǒu língqiǎo de)having equal ability in both hands
Danish ambidekstral
- ambidekstralhaving equal ability in both hands
Dutch tweehandig
- tweehandighaving equal ability in both hands
Esperanto ambaŭmana
- ambaŭmanahaving equal ability in both hands
Estonian mõlemakäelisus
- mõlemakäelisushaving equal ability in both hands
Finnish molempikätinen
- molempikätinenhaving equal ability in both hands
French ambidextre
- ambidextrehaving equal ability in both hands
German beidhändig
- beidhändighaving equal ability in both hands
Greek αμφιδέξιος
- αμφιδέξιος (amfidéxios)having equal ability in both hands
Hindi सव्यसाची
- सव्यसाची (savyasācī)having equal ability in both hands
Hungarian kétkezes
- kétkezeshaving equal ability in both hands
Indonesian ambidekstrus
- ambidekstrushaving equal ability in both hands
Irish comhdheas
- comhdheashaving equal ability in both hands
Italian ambidestro
- ambidestrohaving equal ability in both hands
Japanese 両手利きの
- 両手利きの (ryōtekiki no)having equal ability in both hands
Korean 양손잡이의
- 양손잡이의 (yangsonjabi-ui)having equal ability in both hands
Malay dwicekat
- dwicekathaving equal ability in both hands
Māori raparingarua
- raparingaruahaving equal ability in both hands
Polish oburęczny
- oburęcznyhaving equal ability in both hands
Portuguese ambidestro
- ambidestrohaving equal ability in both hands
Romanian ambidextru
- ambidextruhaving equal ability in both hands
Russian владе́ющий одина́ково хорошо́ обе́ими рука́ми
- владе́ющий одина́ково хорошо́ обе́ими рука́ми (vladéjuščij odinákovo xorošó obéimi rukámi)having equal ability in both hands
Spanish ambidextro, ambidiestro
- ambidextrohaving equal ability in both hands
- ambidiestrohaving equal ability in both hands
- maniegohaving equal ability in both hands
Swedish dubbelhänt, ambidexter
- dubbelhänthaving equal ability in both hands
- ambidexterhaving equal ability in both hands
- ambidextriöshaving equal ability in both hands
- tvehänthaving equal ability in both hands
- bådhänthaving equal ability in both hands
Welsh deuddeheuig
- deuddeheuighaving equal ability in both hands
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with ambidextrous
All rhymes →Cite this entry
ambidextrous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ambidextrous
“ambidextrous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ambidextrous. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ambidextrous,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ambidextrous.
Source: ambidextrous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.