skeptical
or scep·ti·cal
[skep-ti-kuhl]
adjective
inclined to skepticism; having an attitude of doubt: a skeptical young woman who will question whatever you say.
doubtful about a particular thing: My teacher thinks I can get a scholarship, but I'm skeptical.
showing doubt: a skeptical smile.
denying or questioning the tenets of a religion: a skeptical approach to the nature of miracles.
(initial capital letter) of or relating to Skeptics or Skepticism.
RELATED CONTENT
Because X: The New Use of an Old WordOn January 3, approximately 200 linguists at the American Dialect Society conference gathered to vote on what their 2013 Word of the Year should be. While creative coinages sharknado, doge, bitcoin, selfie, Obamacare, and twerk all received nominations, it was an old word used in new ways that most excited linguistics this year: because. In the official ADS press release, Ben Zimmer describes the “new …
RELATED WORDS
suspicious, mistrustful, dubious, doubtful, incredulous, unconvinced, agnostic, cynical, hesitating, questioning, quizzical, unbelieving, scoffing, aporetic, dissenting, freethinking, show-me
Nearby words
- skene,
- skene dhu,
- skep,
- skepful,
- skeptic,
- skeptically,
- skepticism,
- skerrick,
- skerry,
- sket
Origin of skeptical
Synonym study
1. See doubtful.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for skeptical
skeptical
also sceptical, 1630s; see skeptic + -al (1). Related: Skeptically.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper