amphibology means amphiboly. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
amphibology is pronounced /amfɪˈbɒlədʒi/.
Why “amphibology” is a great word
AMPHIBOLOGY — [Noun] A phrase or sentence whose grammatical structure is ambiguous, allowing for two or more interpretations. From French amphibologie, from Late Latin amphibologia, earlier amphibolia, from Ancient Greek ἀμφιβολία (amphibolía, "ambiguity"). Unlike equivocation, which weaponizes vagueness to deceive, or polysemy, which resides in a single word's multiple meanings, amphibology is a syntactic snare, a flaw in the architecture of the clause. It is the chilling notice "I shot the man with the rifle," the absurd headline "Squad Helps Dog Bite Victim," and the oracular pronouncement "a great empire will fall"—each a ghost sentence haunting our speech, a testament to how grammar, the very framework built to clarify, can be the agent of perfect doubt.
noun
- Amphiboly.“In Athens men learn'd […] to resolve a sophisticall argument, and to confound the imposture and amphibologie of words, captiously enterlaced together […]”