If you're cool with polyamory and monogamy, you might be ambiamorous

• Ambiamory is a term to describe people who are comfortable being monogamous or polyamorous.
• A sex educator said ambiamorous people might defer to the relationship style their partner wants.

Maybe you've decided that you're ready to be in a polyamorous relationship after only being in monogamous ones. You still liked monogamy, but want to explore what a poly lifestyle could be like.

"Ambiamory is the ability to be equally content in monogamous and polyamorous relationships," sex educator Antonia Hall told Business Insider. "Some ambiamorous people consider ambiamory to be an identity for themselves, others consider it a choice."

Hall shared some of the subtle differences between being polyamorous and ambiamorous, though "some consider ambiamory to be under the polyamory umbrella," she said.

Ambiamorous people are flexible to new relationship styles

Unlike polyamorous people, ambiamorous ones are fundamentally open to new relationship styles.

Hall said reasons for switching relationship styles "can vary from wanting deeper relationships to seeking more freedom."

That being said, "changing one's relationship structure from monogamy to polyamory — or vice versa — doesn't make one ambiamorous," she said. "Exploring new structures doesn't define someone." For example, a polyamorous person who closes up their relationship isn't necessarily ambiamorous, nor is a monogamous person who tries out dating more than one person.

Rather, "ambiamorous" is a label you can use to describe being happy in multiple relationship styles.

Ambiamory is becoming more common

While Hall said she's seen poly lifestyles more often than ambiamorous ones, she's also seen people shift between monogamy and non-monogamy.

It reflects a time where people are branching out of traditional monogamy, whether they're poly, "monogamish," or friends with benefits.

Ambiamory is just another relationship style in the mix, though Hall stressed that the right term is less important than the quality of the relationship. "While having labels that explain one's identity or preferences is wonderful, what's most important is that one's relationship style is healthy, loving, and emotionally supportive," she said.