doubtful
/ˈdaʊtfəl/ adjective, noun
Forms doubtfuls doubtfull
- adjective Subject to, or causing doubt.
- adjective Experiencing or showing doubt, skeptical.
- adjective Undecided or of uncertain outcome.
- adjective (obsolete) Fearsome, dreadful.
- adjective Improbable or unlikely.
- adjective Suspicious, or of dubious character.
- adjective Unclear or unreliable.
- noun A doubtful person or thing.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English doutfull, douteful, equivalent to doubt + -ful.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective 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.
- adjective Admitting of doubt; not obvious, clear, or certain; questionable; not decided; not easy to be defined, classed, or named; as, a doubtful case, hue, claim, title, species, and the like.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “doubtful”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details