doubt
to be uncertain about; consider questionable or unlikely; hesitate to believe: The police have good reason to doubt his alibi.
to distrust; regard with suspicion: I doubted the salesman, so we decided to check with other dealers.
Archaic. to fear; be apprehensive about.
to be uncertain about something; be undecided in opinion or belief: The priest told me that it was normal to doubt, but encouraged me to nurture my faith.
a feeling of uncertainty about the truth, reality, or nature of something: We all had our doubts about your mysterious Canadian girlfriend since no one has ever seen her in person.
distrust or suspicion: Voters naturally held some doubt about the abrupt change in policy direction issued by city hall.
a general feeling of uncertainty, worry, or concern: As soon as I'd dropped out of school to become a full-time musician, I was full of doubt—what if I’d made a terrible mistake?Set your doubts aside, and listen to my business idea with an open mind.
a state of affairs such as to occasion uncertainty.
Obsolete. fear; dread.
Idioms about doubt
beyond a / the shadow of a doubt, with certainty; definitely. : Also beyond a doubt, beyond doubt.
in doubt, in a state of uncertainty or suspense: His appointment to the position is still in doubt.
no doubt,
certainly: There is no doubt an element of truth in what you say.
without doubt, unquestionably; certainly.
Origin of doubt
1usage note For doubt
The expressions doubt but and doubt but that occur in all varieties of standard speech and writing: I don't doubt but she is sincere. There is no doubt but that the charges will affect his career. Doubt but what occurs mainly in informal speech and writing: There is no doubt but what the rainy weather will hurt the crops.
Other words for doubt
Other words from doubt
- doubt·a·ble, adjective
- doubt·a·bly, adverb
- doubt·er, noun
- doubt·ing·ly, adverb
- doubt·ing·ness, noun
- non·doubt·a·ble, adjective
- non·doubt·er, noun
- non·doubt·ing, adjective
- non·doubt·ing·ly, adverb
- o·ver·doubt, verb (used with object)
- pre·doubt, noun, verb
- pre·doubt·er, noun
- un·doubt·a·ble, adjective
- un·doubt·ing, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use doubt in a sentence
It’s all backing snarky raps full of humor and wordplay, and it becomes about facing — and overcoming — a more generalized internal doubt.
BTS’s new album is sublime comfort pop for the soul in lockdown | Aja Romano | November 20, 2020 | VoxI have no doubt Jalen is destined for great things and can’t wait to see what’s in store for the future.
Maryland’s Jalen Smith taken 10th by Suns in NBA draft | Emily Giambalvo | November 19, 2020 | Washington PostThen there is the bevy of pending lawsuits the president and his allies are using to continue to cast doubt on the outcome of the election.
Report: Election officials find no evidence of widespread voter fraud | Benjamin Rosenberg | November 11, 2020 | VoxThough Disney hasn’t taken a firm stance as to whether Depp will return as Captain Jack Sparrow, producer Jerry Bruckheimer seemed to cast doubt on the prospect in May.
Many doubt to this day that America got a full and honest account of the President’s knowledge and involvement in the plot to trade arms for hostages.
Pete Buttigieg: Americans’ trust in the presidency can and will be rebuilt | jakemeth | November 10, 2020 | Fortune
Even then, most of us doubted he would show up and actually sign the papers allowing him to enter the 1992 New Hampshire primary.
In his remarks, Ahmad doubted that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict could ever be peaceably settled.
Pro-Palestinian Group Lectured On Skirting Terror Laws | Shane Harris | December 5, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTRight after my 12-year-old son died, however, I doubted I would ever read again.
Book Bag: Reading Your Way Out Of Grief | Anna Whiston-Donaldson | October 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAt the time, I doubted his identity, but later I verified his name and photo online.
Cocaine, Politicians and Wives: Inside the World’s Most Bizarre Prison | Jason Batansky | October 12, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBaltimore--the town that booed him and team that doubted him--needed Palmer more than at any time in the club's history.
True, she had never met the provincial type before, but she doubted if Rosewater had produced a crop of Isabel Otises.
Ancestors | Gertrude AthertonThe more Felipe inquired, and the longer he reflected, the more he doubted Alessandro's having ever gone to Monterey.
Ramona | Helen Hunt JacksonThe stranger regarded Hedges attentively, rather to the discomfiture of that functionary, who thought he was doubted.
Elster's Folly | Mrs. Henry WoodHe doubted whether it lay in his power now to hinder anything, but in any case he would not seek to do so.
The Wave | Algernon BlackwoodIt may also be gravely doubted whether Comyn would ever have entered into any bond with Bruce.
King Robert the Bruce | A. F. Murison
British Dictionary definitions for doubt
/ (daʊt) /
uncertainty about the truth, fact, or existence of something (esp in the phrases in doubt, without doubt, beyond a shadow of doubt, etc)
(often plural) lack of belief in or conviction about something: all his doubts about the project disappeared
an unresolved difficulty, point, etc
philosophy the methodical device, esp in the philosophy of Descartes, of identifying certain knowledge as the residue after rejecting any proposition which might, however improbably, be false
obsolete fear
give someone the benefit of the doubt to presume someone suspected of guilt to be innocent; judge leniently
no doubt almost certainly
(tr; may take a clause as object) to be inclined to disbelieve: I doubt we are late
(tr) to distrust or be suspicious of: he doubted their motives
(intr) to feel uncertainty or be undecided
(tr; may take a clause as object) Scot to be inclined to believe
(tr) archaic to fear
I wouldn't doubt someone Irish I would expect nothing else from someone
Origin of doubt
1usage For doubt
Derived forms of doubt
- doubtable, adjective
- doubtably, adverb
- doubter, noun
- doubtingly, adverb
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
Other Idioms and Phrases with doubt
see beyond a doubt; cast doubt on; give the benefit of the doubt; no doubt; shadow of a doubt.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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