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
doubtful
How to use doubtful in a sentence. Example sentences and definitions for doubtful.
Editorial note
I'm doubtful that I would enjoy it, but I would like to be an early employee at a company.
Quick take
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
Meaning at a glance
The clearest senses and uses of doubtful gathered in one view.
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"
unsettled in mind or opinion; "drew a few tentative conclusions"
Definitions
Core meanings and parts of speech for doubtful.
adjective
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
adjective
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"
See also: dubious
adjective
unsettled in mind or opinion; "drew a few tentative conclusions"
See also: tentative
Example sentences
I'm doubtful that I would enjoy it, but I would like to be an early employee at a company.
He told me that violence never solved any of his problems and it's doubtful it'd solve any of mine.
Without these, it is doubtful Diveroli would ever have achieved anything close to what he did.
I am extremely doubtful that optimized C is going to be equally performant as optimized JavaScript.
It's doubtful that he feels anything like remorse for the destruction his company has inflicted on the nation's innovators.
There are good preventative drugs, but it's highly doubtful any medication could actually restore dead follicles in humans.
It's doubtful the Yellow Pages, navigation providers or government website will provide such useful and detailed instructions.
It is highly doubtful that fair compensation for the privatization of public property is possible even in principle.
> working 80 hour weeks grinding out a startup or 3 is still the most probable way of banking a decent retirement fundSeems doubtful to me. Does anyone have statistics on how many non-founder VC funded engineers have made even $1 million off of equity?
I am doubtful, however, because I think the "cool kids" malignancy-- the VC darlings, the investor in-crowd who all collude on terms-- has taken over the organism.
It is doubtful Microsoft scores very high on the intent scale there, but they have probably done more for poor Indians this year than all active charities and all foreign government aid in history.
Park at a legit spot on an approved break and leave all your electronic devices in the vehicle and walk to where you want to be but don't want them to know about, etc...However, it is highly doubtful this was done by a delivery driver.
Paying off the debt means doing something to help the future generations of Americans and it is doubtful any president would do such a thing, and if he did he would probably have to face a lot of angry voters who do not give a shit about the future generations as happened with Al Gore.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers drawn from the clearest meanings and examples for this word.
How do you use doubtful in a sentence?
I'm doubtful that I would enjoy it, but I would like to be an early employee at a company.
What does doubtful mean?
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
What part of speech is doubtful?
doubtful is commonly used as adjective.