dubious

Intermediatezipf 3.49

Pronunciation

/ˈdjuːbiəs/(DOO-bee-us)

Part of speech

adjectiveneutral

Chinese

可疑的；靠不住的；半信半疑的

Definition

Doubtful or uncertain; not to be relied upon; questionable in nature.

Word family

  • dubiously/ˈdjuːbiəsli/(adv)可疑地
  • dubiousness(n)

Collocations

  • dubious distinction
  • dubious claim
  • dubious quality
  • dubious about
  • highly dubious

Examples

  1. 1.He earned the dubious distinction of being the company's worst-performing salesperson three years running. (questionable honour)
  2. 2.I'm dubious about the effectiveness of this new diet — it contradicts everything nutritionists recommend. (doubtful)

Synonyms

  • questionable/ˈkwɛstʃənəbl/— doubtful in honesty or quality
  • suspect/ˈsʌspɛkt/— not to be trusted — adj
  • sceptical/ˈskɛptɪkl/— inclined to doubt

Etymology

from Latin "dubiosus" (doubtful) — "dubium" (doubt) — "duo" (two) — being of two minds