Dubious — Du bi*ous, a. [L. dubius, dubiosus, fr. duo two. See {Two}, and cf. {Doubt}.] 1. Doubtful or not settled in opinion; being in doubt; wavering or fluctuating; undetermined. Dubious policy. Sir T. Scott. [1913 Webster] A dubious, agitated state of… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
dubious — [do͞o′bē əs, dyo͞o′bē əs] adj. [L dubiosus, doubtful < dubius, doubting, uncertain < du < or akin to duo, TWO + IE base * bhu , *bheu , to BE] 1. causing doubt; ambiguous; vague [a dubious remark] 2. feeling doubt; hesitating; skeptical… … English World dictionary
dubious — [adj1] doubtful arguable, chancy, debatable, diffident, disputable, dubitable, equivocal, far fetched, fishy*, fly by night*, hesitant, iffy*, improbable, indecisive, moot, mootable, open, perplexed, problematic, questionable, reluctant, shady,… … New thesaurus
dubious — I adjective ambiguous, anceps, arguable, chancy, conditional, confusing, confutable, contestable, contingent, controversial, controvertible, debatable, dependent, disputable, doubtful, dubitative, dubius, equivocal, fallible, hazy, in dispute, in … Law dictionary
dubious — 1540s, from L. dubiosus doubtful, from dubium doubt, neuter of dubius vacillating, moving two ways, fluctuating; figuratively wavering in opinion, doubting, doubtful, from duo two (see TWO (Cf. two)), with a sense of of two minds, undecided… … Etymology dictionary
dubious — *doubtful, questionable, problematic Analogous words: suspicious, skeptical, mistrustful, uncertain (see corresponding nouns at UNCERTAINTY): hesitant, reluctant, *disinclined Antonyms: cocksure (state of mind, opinion): reliable (of things in… … New Dictionary of Synonyms
dubious — ► ADJECTIVE 1) hesitating or doubting. 2) not to be relied upon. 3) of questionable value; suspect. DERIVATIVES dubiously adverb dubiousness noun. ORIGIN Latin dubiosus, from dubium a doubt … English terms dictionary
dubious — du|bi|ous [ˈdju:biəs US ˈdu: ] adj [Date: 1500 1600; : Latin; Origin: dubius, from dubare to be unable to decide ] 1.) probably not honest, true, right etc ▪ The firm was accused of dubious accounting practices. ▪ Many critics regard this… … Dictionary of contemporary English
dubious — 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
dubious — du|bi|ous [ dubiəs ] adjective * 1. ) not sure about the truth or quality of something, or whether you should do something: dubious about: I m very dubious about his ability to do the job. We were dubious about signing the deal. 2. ) not… … Usage of the words and phrases in modern English
