Doubtful

How to spell doubtful

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce doubtful

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does doubtful mean?

1. adjectiveFeeling or causing uncertainty; unlikely to be true or to happen.

Doubtful in a sentence

• It is doubtful that the parcel will arrive before the weekend.

• The manager was doubtful about the accuracy of the sales figures.

Where does doubtful come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The heart of this word is 'doubt', which English took in the 1200s from the Old French verb 'douter', meaning to hesitate or to be uncertain. That French word descended from the Latin 'dubitare', meaning to waver or to be of two minds, which itself was built on 'dubius' (uncertain) and ultimately on 'duo', the Latin for 'two'; the underlying image is of a mind pulled in two directions. Early English spelled the word without any 'b', as 'douten' or 'doute', following the French. Scholars in the Renaissance later inserted a silent 'b' to advertise the Latin pedigree of 'dubitare', and that decorative letter never matched the pronunciation, which is exactly why the silent 'b' is the spelling trap today. The suffix '-ful' was then added in the native English way to give 'full of doubt', producing the adjective 'doubtful'.

How the word is built

• doubt (from Latin dubitare: to waver)
• -ful (full of, characterised by)