Doubtless

How to spell doubtless

9 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce doubtless

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does doubtless mean?

1. adverbAlmost certainly; very probably and without serious doubt.

Doubtless in a sentence

• The delay was doubtless caused by the heavy rain on the motorway.

• She will doubtless ask for a full refund once she reads the contract.

Where does doubtless come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The core of this word is 'doubt', which English took from the Old French 'douter' in the 1200s, itself descended from the Latin 'dubitare', meaning 'to waver, to hesitate, to be uncertain'. That Latin verb is linked to 'duo', meaning 'two', capturing the idea of a mind torn between two possibilities. The silent 'b' that catches so many writers was not in the early English spelling; scholars later reinserted it to mirror the Latin original, even though it was never pronounced. To this base English added the native suffix '-less', an Old English ending meaning 'without' or 'free from', the same one that ends 'helpless' and 'careless'. So 'doubtless' literally means 'without doubt', and over time it softened into an adverb expressing confident expectation rather than absolute proof.

How the word is built

• doubt (uncertainty, from Latin dubitare)
• -less (without, lacking)