Questionable

How to spell questionable

12 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce questionable

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does questionable mean?

1. adjectiveOf doubtful honesty, morality, or propriety; likely to invite suspicion.
2. adjectiveOpen to doubt as to its truth, accuracy, or worth.

Questionable in a sentence

• The auditor flagged several questionable transactions in the company accounts.

• The report drew its conclusions from questionable data.

• His questionable business dealings eventually cost him his reputation.

• The wisdom of taking out another loan this year is highly questionable.

Where does questionable come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word is built on 'question', which traces back to the Latin quaestio, meaning 'an inquiry' or 'a seeking', formed from the verb quaerere 'to seek, to ask'. English took 'question' through Old French in the 1200s, and over time it gathered the sense of something open to doubt or dispute. The suffix '-able', from the Latin -abilis meaning 'able to be' or 'worthy of', was attached to many such verbs and nouns to form adjectives. By the 1500s 'questionable' was in use to describe anything that could reasonably be queried, and it soon narrowed toward the modern flavour of doubtful honesty or value. The same quaerere root quietly survives in everyday relatives like 'inquire', 'require', and 'conquer', and remembering the base word 'question' is the surest way to keep the spelling intact before adding -able.

How the word is built

• question (from Latin quaestio: an inquiry, a seeking)
• -able (capable of, worthy of)