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—doubtfully, adv. —doubtfulness, n./dowt"feuhl/, adj.1. of uncertain outcome or result.2. admitting of or causing doubt; uncertain; ambiguous.3. unsettled in opinion or belief; undecided; hesitating.4. of equivocal or questionable character: His tactics are highly doubtful.[1350-1400; ME douteful. See DOUBT, -FUL]Syn. 1. undetermined, unsettled, indecisive, dubious, problematic. 2. unsure, indeterminate. 3. irresolute, vacillating, hesitant. DOUBTFUL, DUBIOUS, INCREDULOUS, SKEPTICAL imply reluctance or unwillingness to be convinced. To be DOUBTFUL about something is to feel that it is open to question or that more evidence is needed to prove it: to be doubtful about the statements of witnesses. DUBIOUS implies vacillation, unsureness, or suspicion: dubious about suggested methods of manufacture. INCREDULOUS means unwilling or reluctant to believe: incredulous at the good news. SKEPTICAL implies a general disposition to doubt or question: skeptical of human progress. 4. shady.Ant. 1, 2. certain.
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Universalium. 2010.
См. также в других словарях:
doubtful — doubtful, dubious 1. The constructions that follow doubtful correspond to the pattern outlined for doubt above, with whether and if still dominant but a that clause now increasingly common: • It is doubtful that in the right to life controversy… … Modern English usage
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.… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
doubtful — doubtful, dubious, problematic, questionable are comparable when they mean not affording assurance of the worth, soundness, success, or certainty of something or someone. Doubtful and dubious are sometimes used with little distinction. Doubtful,… … New Dictionary of Synonyms
doubtful — I adjective arguable, at issue, conditional, conjectural, contestable, controvertible, debatable, disbelieving, disposed to question, disputable, distrustful, doubtable, doubting, dubious, dubitable, dubius, equivocal, implausible, improbable, in … Law dictionary
doubtful — UK US /ˈdaʊtfəl/ adjective ACCOUNTING ► used to describe debts or accounts that are unlikely to be paid: »The Company has established an allowance for doubtful accounts based on the credit risk of specific customers and historical trends. → See… … Financial and business terms
doubtful — [dout′fəl] adj. [ME douteful] 1. in doubt; not clear or definite; ambiguous 2. not clearly predictable; uncertain; unsure 3. giving rise to doubt or suspicion; questionable, as in reputation 4. feeling doubt; unsettled in opinion or belief… … English World dictionary
doubtful — [adj1] questionable, unclear ambiguous, borderline, chancy, clouded, contingent, debatable, dicey, disreputable, doubtable, dubious, dubitable, equivocal, far fetched, fat chance, fishy*, hazardous, hazy, iffy*, impugnable, inconclusive,… … New thesaurus
doubtful — late 14c., from DOUBT (Cf. doubt) + FUL (Cf. ful). Related: Doubtfully; doubtfulness … Etymology dictionary
doubtful — ► ADJECTIVE 1) uncertain. 2) not known with certainty. 3) improbable. DERIVATIVES doubtfully adverb doubtfulness noun … English terms dictionary
doubtful — [[t]da͟ʊtfʊl[/t]] 1) ADJ GRADED: usu v link ADJ, oft it v link ADJ that/wh 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… … English dictionary
doubtful — doubt|ful [ˈdautfəl] adj 1.) probably not true or not likely to happen ▪ Prospects for a lasting peace remain doubtful. it is doubtful if/whether ▪ It was doubtful whether the patient would survive the operation. it is doubtful that ▪ It is… … Dictionary of contemporary English
