Translation guide
How to express the idea of making something ambiguous, unclear, or vague in Japanese, depending on whether you are intentionally being vague, making a statement less clear, or causing confusion.
To deliberately avoid being specific, often to be polite, indirect, or evasive.
He spoke ambiguously about his opinion.
I gave a vague answer to that question.
Literally 'make ambiguous', a straightforward and common expression. Slightly more formal than ぼかす.
He made his reply ambiguous.
Idiomatic phrase meaning to be evasive or not give a clear answer, literally 'muddy one's words'.
He was evasive and didn't say it clearly.
To blur distinctions, rules, or categories, often causing confusion or lack of clarity.
To cause a lack of clarity, often unintentionally or through poor explanation.
Literally 'make hard to understand', a natural and common way to express making something confusing.
His explanation made the problem ambiguous (hard to understand).
Means 'to confuse', stronger than just making ambiguous; implies causing disorder or misunderstanding.
ぼかす is more colloquial and often implies intentional vagueness, like blurring a photo or softening a statement. あいまいにする is more formal and directly means 'to make ambiguous', suitable for written or formal contexts.
The English phrase 'make ambiguous' is not always directly translated. In many cases, Japanese uses specific verbs like ぼかす or phrases like あいまいにする. Using a literal translation like 曖昧を作る is incorrect.
境界線をぼやかす。
Blur the boundary line.
That information made everyone confused (ambiguous).