dubious
[doo-bee-uh s, dyoo-]
- doubtful; marked by or occasioning doubt: a dubious reply.
- of doubtful quality or propriety; questionable: a dubious compliment; a dubious transaction.
- of uncertain outcome: in dubious battle.
- wavering or hesitating in opinion; inclined to doubt.
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Origin of dubious
Synonyms
See more synonyms for dubious on Thesaurus.com1. equivocal, ambiguous, obscure, unclear. 4. undecided, uncertain, hesitant, fluctuating.
Synonym study
4. See doubtful.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for dubiousness
Contemporary Examples
Another reason might have been the dubiousness with which the tactics of the so-called New Journalism were viewed.
Historical Examples
In a few words he told her of his despair and of the dubiousness of his position.
Cleo The MagnificentLouis Zangwill
Diogenes eyed her with a dubiousness that soon became certainty.
The Proud PrinceJustin Huntly McCarthy
This time she was sure that no dubiousness lurked beneath his tone.
A Veldt OfficialBertram Mitford
Mr. Bennett contemplated him with just a tinge of dubiousness in his look.
Roy Blakeley in the Haunted CampPercy Keese Fitzhugh
It is unnecessary to point out the dubiousness of this theory!
South AmericaW. H. Koebel
dubious
- marked by or causing doubta dubious reply
- unsettled in mind; uncertain; doubtful
- of doubtful quality; untrustworthya dubious reputation
- not certain in outcome
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Word Origin
C16: from Latin dubius wavering
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for dubiousness
dubious
adj.
1540s, from Latin dubiosus "doubtful," from dubium "doubt," neuter of dubius "vacillating, moving two ways, fluctuating;" figuratively "wavering in opinion, doubting, doubtful," from duo "two" (see two), with a sense of "of two minds, undecided between two things." Old English also used tweo "two" to mean "doubt." Cf. doubt (v.). Related: Dubiously; dubiousness.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper