Pick the common, formal, highly emphatic word "unequivocal" (instead of, say, "absolute," "clear-cut," or "explicit") when you want to call lots of attention to how strong, solid, and clear something is: how there's no room for misreading it, and how there's no way to mistake it for something else.

You might talk about unequivocal words, phrases, labels, messages, and language.

Or about unequivocal support, opposition, approvals, rejections, judgments, verdicts, proof, evidence, blessings, burdens, winners, or losers.

Or, you might say that a person is unequivocal when it comes to some particular statement or topic. Here's an example from the Guardian: "Carney was unequivocal: 'It's my personal opinion that she handled it brilliantly.'"

You might be wondering, instead of using the privative prefix "un-," why not just describe something as "univocal"? That way, you're saying that someone does give their voice to one idea, rather than saying they're not giving their voice to multiple ideas. I mean, you absolutely can do that. But compared to "univocal," "unequivocal" is about sixty times more common. So, "univocal" might confuse or distract some of your listeners.

"Apple CEO Tim Cook... sent a strongly worded memo to staff, quoting Martin Luther King, about the violence in Charlottesville... 'We must not witness or permit such hate and bigotry in our country, and we must be unequivocal about it.'"
  — Samuel Gibbs, quoting Tim Cook, The Guardian, 17 August 2017

"Beidleman eventually asked, 'Hey, Ang Dorje, are you going to fix the ropes, or what?' Ang Dorje's reply was a quick, unequivocal 'No'—perhaps because none of Fischer's Sherpas were there to share the work."
   — Jon Krakauer, Into Thin Air, 1997

has this page helped you understand "unequivocal"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "unequivocal" without saying "clear" or "unambiguous."

try it out:

Does ketchup belong in the fridge?

Maybe you gave an unequivocal "yes," an unequivocal "no," or a more nuanced answer.

As Mary Elizabeth Williams noted, "The UK branch of Heinz... [replied] on social media to the age old question of fridge vs cupboard with an unequivocal 'FYI: Ketchup. goes. in. the. fridge!!!' But just a few years earlier, American Heinz had offered a much more subdued perspective, tweeting that 'Because of its natural acidity, Heinz Ketchup is shelf-stable, but refrigerate after opening to maintain product quality.'"

With this silly example in mind, see if you can name another seemingly yes-or-no, black-and-white, either-or question: one that you could give an unequivocal answer to, or a more nuanced one. And is your personal answer an unequivocal one? Why or why not?

If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.)

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game this month is "CLICKBAIT THIS!"

Summon your creativity and dismiss your sense of decency as you invent a clickbaity description: one that's urgent, exaggerated, ungrammatical, conspiratorial, utterly false, emotionally abrasive, vaguely revelatory, full of feigned shock, and/or bloated with capital letters, question marks, exclamation points, and/or emojis. Get in there and be shameless.

If you're sufficiently disgusted with your clickbait, share it with a friend and see if they can guess its subject. I'll also share mine with you to see if you can guess it.

Clickbait this today: A wild animal of your choice.

Try guessing my wild animal: SLAMMED AS "MOBILE COMPOST HEAP!" - LIVES ON LEAVES - CARDINAL SIN?!

Scroll all the way down for the answer to mine.

review this word:

1. The precise opposite of UNEQUIVOCAL is EQUIVOCAL, which means

A. JUST.
B. WISHY-WASHY.
C. STRONG-WILLED.

2. When Laura Collins-Hughes wondered if a moment during a Broadway performance was scripted or unscripted, she emailed the show's writer to find out. His "unequivocal response," she reported, was "'_____.'"

A. It's usually not a scripted moment
B. It's absolutely not a scripted moment
C. It's left up to the discretion of the actors

Answers to the review questions: 1. B 2. B From the game: the sloth.

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.