doubt·ful /ˈdaʊtfəl/
(a.)可疑的,疑心的,不確的
Doubt·ful a.
1. Not settled in opinion; undetermined; wavering; hesitating in belief; also used, metaphorically, of the body when its action is affected by such a state of mind; as, we are doubtful of a fact, or of the propriety of a measure.
Methinks I should know you, and know this man;
Yet I am doubtful. --Shak.
With doubtful feet and wavering resolution. --Milton.
2. Admitting of doubt; not obvious, clear, or certain; questionable; not decided; not easy to be defined, classed, or named; as, a doubtful case, hue, claim, title, species, and the like.
Beauty is but a vain and doubtful good. --Shak.
Is it a great cruelty to expel from our abode the enemy of our peace, or even the doubtful friend [i. e., one as to whose sincerity there may be doubts]? --Bancroft.
3. Characterized by ambiguity; dubious; as, a doubtful expression; a doubtful phrase.
4. Of uncertain issue or event.
We . . . have sustained one day in doubtful fight. --Milton.
The strife between the two principles had been long, fierce, and doubtful. --Macaulay.
5. Fearful; apprehensive; suspicious. [Obs.]
I am doubtful that you have been conjunct
And bosomed with her. --Shak.
Syn: -- Wavering; vacillating; hesitating; undetermined; distrustful; dubious; uncertain; equivocal; ambiguous; problematical; questionable.
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doubtful
adj 1: open to doubt or suspicion; "the candidate's doubtful past";
"he has a dubious record indeed"; "what one found
uncertain the other found dubious or downright false";
"it was more than dubitable whether the friend was as
influential as she thought"- Karen Horney [syn: dubious,
dubitable, in question(p)]
2: fraught with uncertainty or doubt; "they were doubtful that
the cord would hold"; "it was doubtful whether she would
be admitted"; "dubious about agreeing to go" [syn: dubious]
3: unsettled in mind or opinion; "drew a few tentative
conclusions" [syn: tentative]