dubious

[ doo-bee-uhs, dyoo- ]
See synonyms for dubious on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. doubtful; marked by or occasioning doubt: a dubious reply.

  2. of doubtful quality or propriety; questionable: a dubious compliment; a dubious transaction.

  1. of uncertain outcome: in dubious battle.

  2. wavering or hesitating in opinion; inclined to doubt.

Origin of dubious

1
First recorded in 1540–50; from Latin dubius; cf. doubt

synonym study For dubious

4. See doubtful.

Other words for dubious

Other words from dubious

  • du·bi·ous·ly, adverb
  • du·bi·ous·ness, noun
  • su·per·du·bi·ous, adjective
  • su·per·du·bi·ous·ly, adverb
  • su·per·du·bi·ous·ness, noun
  • un·du·bi·ous, adjective
  • un·du·bi·ous·ly, adverb
  • un·du·bi·ous·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use dubious in a sentence

  • Another reason might have been the dubiousness with which the tactics of the so-called New Journalism were viewed.

  • Diogenes eyed her with a dubiousness that soon became certainty.

    The Proud Prince | Justin Huntly McCarthy
  • I'll just keep on being puzzled quietly and without indicating the slightest magneto-ionic dubiousness, if you'd rather.

    Where I Wasn't Going | Walt Richmond
  • "I really fear sometimes that you cannot," he said, with a dubiousness approaching anger.

    Jude the Obscure | Thomas Hardy
  • She could not accept a 'perhaps' that cast dubiousness on her disinterested championship.

  • I did not overlook the evils of constraint and the dubiousness as to the character of the master I should choose.

    Arthur Mervyn | Charles Brockden Brown

British Dictionary definitions for dubious

dubious

/ (ˈdjuːbɪəs) /


adjective
  1. marked by or causing doubt: a dubious reply

  2. unsettled in mind; uncertain; doubtful

  1. of doubtful quality; untrustworthy: a dubious reputation

  2. not certain in outcome

Origin of dubious

1
C16: from Latin dubius wavering

Derived forms of dubious

  • dubiously, adverb
  • dubiousness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012