misleading / ambiguous
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misleading / ambiguous
Formulated or presented in such a way that it can easily be misunderstood or interpreted in several ways.
Seine Anweisungen waren so missverständlich, dass am Ende niemand wusste, was zu tun war.
His instructions were so ambiguous that in the end nobody knew what had to be done.
The word is made up of the prefix 'miss-' and the adjective 'verständlich' (understandable). The prefix 'miss-' means that something is wrong, bad, or negative. 'Missverständlich' (misleading/ambiguous) is therefore something that can easily be misunderstood.
Die E-Mail war leider sehr missverständlich formuliert.
Unfortunately, the email was worded very ambiguously.
It is often forms of communication that are described as 'missverständlich' (misleading/ambiguous). Typical examples are: eine missverständliche Formulierung (an ambiguous wording), eine missverständliche Aussage (an ambiguous statement), eine missverständliche Anweisung (an unclear instruction), or eine missverständliche Geste (an ambiguous gesture).
Eine unklare Geste kann in einer anderen Kultur missverständlich sein.
An unclear gesture can be misleading in another culture.
'Missverständlich' (misleadingly/ambiguously) can also be used as an adverb to describe a verb. It then usually comes after the verb and describes how an action is carried out.
Er hat sich missverständlich ausgedrückt, deshalb gab es ein Problem.
He expressed himself ambiguously, so there was a problem.
unclear
Both words can describe a problematic formulation. „Unklar“ generally says that the content is not understandable or unambiguous. „Missverständlich“ emphasizes that the wording can easily be misunderstood or interpreted in different ways.
Die Anleitung ist missverständlich, weil ein Satz zwei verschiedene Deutungen zulässt.
The instructions are ambiguous because one sentence allows two different interpretations.
Die Anleitung ist unklar, weil wichtige Schritte darin fehlen.
The instructions are unclear because important steps are missing.
