| / English Dictionary |
DOUBTFUL
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Fraught with uncertainty or doubt
Example:
dubious about agreeing to go
Synonyms:
doubtful; dubious
Classified under:
Similar:
incertain; uncertain; unsure (lacking or indicating lack of confidence or assurance)
Derivation:
doubtfulness (the state of being unsure of something)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Open to doubt or suspicion
Example:
it was more than dubitable whether the friend was as influential as she thought
Synonyms:
doubtful; dubious; dubitable; in question
Classified under:
Similar:
questionable (subject to question)
Derivation:
doubtfulness (uncertainty about the truth or factuality or existence of something)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Unsettled in mind or opinion
Example:
drew a few tentative conclusions
Synonyms:
doubtful; tentative
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
unsettled (still in doubt)
Derivation:
doubtfulness (the state of being unsure of something)
Context examples:
Then I shall tell you plainly what I want, for there must be no doubtful matter in this connection between us now.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
I was without confidence in the future, extremely doubtful, and yet I felt no underlying fear.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
In a doubtful case I would not put him in so painful a position, and so I reserve my information until my own mind is clear upon the matter.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
But that expression of 'violently in love' is so hackneyed, so doubtful, so indefinite, that it gives me very little idea.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
I say into the cab, but I soon became doubtful as to whether it was not a carriage in which I found myself.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
It is not needful that this priest should be called, and it is in my mind that in asking for this ye cast some slight shadow or slur upon the good name of my wife, as though it were still doubtful whether her power came to her from above or below.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The researchers suggest that while the reef has been able to turn the corner after all 5 death events, mainly due to its remarkable ability to move across the seafloor at a rate of between 0.2 and 1.5 metres a year, they are doubtful about its ability to survive the current trend of global reef decline.
(Major study reveals Great Barrier Reef’s 30,000-year fight for survival, University of Granada)
But I do not pretend that my protestations should acquit me; I rest my innocence on a plain and simple explanation of the facts which have been adduced against me, and I hope the character I have always borne will incline my judges to a favourable interpretation where any circumstance appears doubtful or suspicious.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
To say the truth, we were getting in no very good odour among the tip-top proctors, and were rapidly sliding down to but a doubtful position.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Your fortune is yet doubtful: when I examined your face, one trait contradicted another.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
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