Doubtful
['daʊtfʊl;-f(ə)l] or ['daʊtfəl]
Definition
(adj.) 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' .
(adj.) 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 .
(adj.) unsettled in mind or opinion; 'drew a few tentative conclusions' .
Editor: Stephen--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) 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.
(a.) 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.
(a.) Characterized by ambiguity; dubious; as, a doubtful expression; a doubtful phrase.
(a.) Of uncertain issue or event.
(a.) Fearful; apprehensive; suspicious.
Checker: Thelma
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. [1]. Wavering, undecided, hesitating, undetermined, in suspense.[2]. Ambiguous, dubious, equivocal, obscure, enigmatical, problematical.[3]. Indeterminate, undecided, uncertain, questionable.
Editor: Lorna
Synonyms and Antonyms
[See DOUBT_and_EQUIVOCAL]
Inputed by Frances
Examples
- I don't disguise from myself, or from you, I went on, that the prospect before us is more than doubtful. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- I felt some hesitation in suggesting rank as high as the colonelcy of a regiment, feeling somewhat doubtful whether I would be equal to the position. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- Their failure to agree c aused the observer to reject one and mark the other as doubtful. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- Still a little doubtful, because of her not looking at him. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- Explosions have occurred, however, in cases where it is extremely doubtful whether gas has been present in dangerous quantity, and attention has been drawn to the possible causes. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- But even if they tamed the horse, it is still more doubtful whether they rode it or had much use for it when it was tamed. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Mr. Bumble tasted the medicine with a doubtful look; smacked his lips; took another taste; and put the cup down empty. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- He was not in the least doubtful of himself, as regards Gerald. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- It is very doubtful if any single fingerprint will ever be exactly duplicated by any finger other than the one which originally made it. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
- It is the ambiguity of language only which can make this proposition appear either doubtful or paradoxical. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- It ain't that I object to being passed over for a stranger, though I regard the stranger as a more than doubtful customer. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- We must remember that in the time of Buddha it is doubtful if even the Iliad had been committed to writing. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- He bowed rather awkwardly, and turning from her with a stranger's embarrassment, he met the doubtful light from the window. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- I was so doubtful of myself now, and put so much trust in him, that I could not satisfy myself whether I ought to refer to it when he did not. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- It is doubtful if it will take the fever again for a long time. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- But though this question be very important, it is not very difficult nor doubtful. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- But it is more than doubtful if he had any such separation in mind. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Stephen looked doubtful. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- Who began it, or how fair it was, or how unfair, may be doubtful; but how it ended is certainly not doubtful, for the victim was found throttled. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- But even to get the very doubtful and preliminary stage of making the appeal, seemed one of the least promising of human undertakings. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- 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. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- When the patient has been released in this doubtful manner, and is taken to Mr. Fairlie, does he recognise her? Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- It terminated like the former; though something approaching to a ray, we could not tell whence, shed a very doubtful twilight in the space. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- Yer doubtful of her, are yer? Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- However doubtful she might feel her situation to be, she would rather persist in darkness than owe her enlightenment to Selden. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- I noted down these particulars in my pocket-book, feeling as I did so both doubtful and disheartened about my next proceedings. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- Nothing doubtful was discovered. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- I could see no cause for any uneasiness or any doubt, but she had made me a little uneasy, and a little doubtful, nevertheless. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- So rude was the native culture of the Romans that it is doubtful whether they had any schools before the advent of Greek learning. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- But whether he should succeed in that mode of contributing to the majority on the right side was very doubtful to him. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
Inputed by Frances