Adjacent Words

Doubtful definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DOUBTFUL, a.
1. Dubious; not settled in opinion; undetermined; wavering; hesitating; applied to persons; as, we are doubtful of a fact, or of the propriety of a measure.
2. Dubious; ambiguous; not clear in its meaning; as a doubtful expression.
3. Admitting of doubt; not obvious, clear or certain; questionable; not decided; as a doubtful case; a doubtful proposition; it is doubtful what will be the event of the war.
4. Of uncertain issue.
We have sustained one day in doubtful fight.
5. Not secure; suspicious; as, we cast a doubtful eye.
6. Not confident; not without fear; indicating doubt.
With doubtful feet, and wavering resolution.
7. Not certain or defined; as a doubtful hue.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: open to doubt or suspicion; "the candidate's doubtful past"; "he has a dubious record indeed"; "what one found uncertain the other found dubious or downright false"; "it was more than dubitable whether the friend was as influential as she thought"- Karen Horney [syn: doubtful, dubious, dubitable, in question]
2: fraught with uncertainty or doubt; "they were doubtful that the cord would hold"; "it was doubtful whether she would be admitted"; "dubious about agreeing to go" [syn: doubtful, dubious]
3: unsettled in mind or opinion; "drew a few tentative conclusions" [syn: doubtful, tentative]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Date: 14th century 1. giving rise to doubt ; open to question <it is doubtful that they ever knew what happened> 2. a. lacking a definite opinion, conviction, or determination <they were doubtful about the advantages of the new system> b. uncertain in outcome ; undecided <the outcome of the election remains doubtful> 3. marked by qualities that raise doubts about worth, honesty, or validity <of doubtful repute> • doubtfully adverb • doubtfulness noun Synonyms: doubtful, dubious, problematic, questionable mean not affording assurance of the worth, soundness, or certainty of something. doubtful implies little more than a lack of conviction or certainty <doubtful about whether I said the right thing>. dubious stresses suspicion, mistrust, or hesitation <dubious about the practicality of the scheme>. problematic applies especially to things whose existence, meaning, fulfillment, or realization is highly uncertain <whether the project will ever be finished is problematic>. questionable may imply no more than the existence of doubt but usually suggests that the suspicions are well-grounded <a man of questionable honesty>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 feeling doubt or misgivings; unsure or guarded in one's opinion. 2 causing doubt; ambiguous; uncertain in meaning etc. 3 unreliable (a doubtful ally). Derivatives: doubtfully adv. doubtfulness n.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Doubtful Doubt"ful, a. 1. Not settled in opinion; undetermined; wavering; hesitating in belief; also used, metaphorically, of the body when its action is affected by such a state of mind; as, we are doubtful of a fact, or of the propriety of a measure. Methinks I should know you, and know this man; Yet I am doubtful. --Shak. With doubtful feet and wavering resolution. --Milton.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. If it is doubtful that something will happen, it seems unlikely to happen or you are uncertain whether it will happen. For a time it seemed doubtful that he would move at all... It is doubtful whether Tweed, even with his fluent French, passed for one of the locals... ADJ: usu v-link ADJ, oft it v-link ADJ that/wh 2. If you are doubtful about something, you feel unsure or uncertain about it. I was still very doubtful about the chances for success... Why did he sound so doubtful? = dubious ADJ: usu v-link ADJ, oft ADJ about n • doubtfully Keeton shook his head doubtfully. = dubiously ADV: ADV after v 3. If you say that something is of doubtful quality or value, you mean that it is of low quality or value. ...selling something that is overpriced or of doubtful quality... = dubious ADJ: usu ADJ n [disapproval] 4. If a sports player is doubtful for a match or event, he or she seems unlikely to play, usually because of injury. (JOURNALISM) ADJ: oft ADJ for n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Wavering, undecided, hesitating, undetermined, in suspense. 2. Ambiguous, dubious, equivocal, obscure, enigmatical, problematical. 3. Indeterminate, undecided, uncertain, questionable.

Moby Thesaurus

Humean, Pyrrhonic, a bit thick, a bit thin, absurd, agnostic, ambiguous, amoral, arguable, at issue, beyond belief, borderline, chancy, clouded, confutable, conjectural, conscienceless, contestable, contingent, controversial, controvertible, corrupt, corrupted, criminal, crooked, dark, debatable, deniable, devious, dishonest, dishonorable, disputable, disreputable, distrustful, doubtable, doubting, dubious, dubitable, equivocal, evasive, felonious, fishy, fraudulent, from Missouri, hard of belief, hard to believe, hardly possible, hazy, hesitant, hesitating, iffy, ill-got, ill-gotten, immoral, implausible, improbable, in dispute, in doubt, in dubio, in question, inconceivable, incredible, incredulous, indecisive, indefinite, indeterminate, indirect, insecure, insidious, leery, mistakable, mistrustful, mistrusting, moot, more than doubtful, not deserving belief, not kosher, obscure, open, open to doubt, open to question, open to suspicion, passing belief, precarious, preposterous, problematic, queasy, questionable, questioning, refutable, ridiculous, rocky, rotten, sceptical, scrupulous, shady, shaky, shameless, shifty, shy, sinister, skeptic, skeptical, slippery, speculative, staggering belief, suppositional, suspect, suspecting, suspicious, tall, thick, thin, tottery, touch-and-go, treacherous, tricky, unbelievable, uncertain, unclear, unconscienced, unconscientious, unconscionable, unconvinced, unconvincing, undecided, undependable, underhand, underhanded, unearthly, uneasy, unethical, ungodly, unhealthy, unimaginable, unlikely, unpredictable, unprincipled, unpromising, unreliable, unresolved, unsafe, unsavory, unscrupulous, unsettled, unsound, unstable, unsteady, unstraightforward, unsure, unthinkable, untrusting, untrustworthy, unworthy of belief, vacillating, vague, wary, without remorse, without shame