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 — [[t]dju͟ːbiəs, AM du͟ː [/t]] 1) ADJ GRADED If you describe something as dubious, you mean that you do not consider it to be completely honest, safe, or reliable. This claim seems to us to be rather dubious... Soho was still a highly dubious area … English dictionary
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
