dubious

adjective du·bi·ous \ ˈdü-bē-əs also dyü- \

|Updated on: 21 Jun 2018

Tip: Synonym Guide

Examples: dubious in a Sentence

Editor's Note: There's No Uncertainty Around The Definition of dubious

Definition of dubious

1 : unsettled in opinion : doubtful

I was dubious about the plan.

2 : giving rise to uncertainty: such as

a : of doubtful promise or outcome

a dubious plan

b : questionable or suspect as to true nature or quality

the practice is of dubious legality

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dubiously

adverb

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dubiousness

noun

See dubious defined for English-language learners

See dubious defined for kids

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Examples of dubious in a Sentence

The recent rumbles and ruptures in the financial markets are finally making people reassess the dubious systems of credit that have arisen in the past few years. —William Safire, New York Times Magazine, 19 Aug. 2007
Thus, the translation of the Latin word biographus as "a biography," and the limitation of "biographies" to written, printed histories of men, was perhaps inevitable. Poor Dryden was given the dubious honor of being the first to use the generic term—despite the fact that his phrase had been taken out of the context of biographical compilers, in a discussion of Plutarch. —Nigel Hamilton, Biography, 2007
That indeed is the crux of the matter. Today especially, when community-oriented policing is being introduced everywhere, it seems not only ethically dubious but self-defeating to engage in practices that at their best undermine trust and cooperation between citizens and law-enforcement officials and at their worst foster cynicism toward our legal system. —Edwin Dobb, Harper's, May 2002
To avoid fees, the new "relationship" minimum for checking accounts jumped from $2000 to as much as $6000. And what would customers get in exchange? The ability to take advantage of such a dubious new benefit as a consolidated monthly statement. —Consumer Reports, March 1996
He made the highly dubious claim that Elvis is still alive and living in Hawaii.
a man of dubious character

Recent Examples of dubious from the Web

The idea that the leaker used artificial intelligence to connect the accounts is somewhat dubious.

— rohan nadkarni, SI.com, "There Was No Way Bryan Colangelo Could Remain Employed in Philadelphia," 7 June 2018
The denim look was inspired by Andre Agassi (who had an equally dubious trial with the fabric during his career) and James Dean.

— chris chase, For The Win, "Serena Williams' fashion history, from catsuits to game-changing ballgowns," 31 May 2018
The 2018 changes do not include a pitch clock — something that Manfred wants and about which the head of the players union, Tony Clark, is known to be dubious.

— susan jacoby, Time, "Why the Worst Thing About Baseball Is Also the Best Thing About Baseball," 24 May 2018
The idea that a drug could heal civilization is really dubious, but there are people that think that way.

— recode staff, Recode, "Full transcript: Author Michael Pollan on Recode Decode," 22 May 2018
But other celebrated scientists, including Nobel Laureate David Gross of the University of California, Santa Barbara, are dubious.

— dan falk /, NBC News, "What is the multiverse?," 22 May 2018
Despite her personal connections, Kofmel does not gloss over Wurtenberg's more dubious behavior in pursuit of global thrills and juicy news stories.

— stephen dalton, The Hollywood Reporter, "'Chris the Swiss': Film Review | Cannes 2018," 22 May 2018
When the engagement was announced, a friend of mine, a veteran royal biographer, was dubious.

— craig brown, The Cut, "Can This Marriage Be Saved?," 1 May 2018
Recent data suggests that many may produce alarming false positives for disease risks, while others that claim to predict things like athletic abilities and wine preferences are simply dubious.

— beth mole, Ars Technica, "Woman takes Ancestry.com DNA test, learns her real dad is her mom’s doctor," 4 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dubious.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

There's No Uncertainty Around The Definition of dubious

Dubious derives from the Latin verb dubare, meaning "to hesitate in choice of opinions or courses," and it is related to the Latin word for "two": duo. Dubious can be used to indicate uncertainty about the result of an action or the truth of a statement as well as about the uncertainty of a person and his or her character. In either case, it usually implies a feeling of doubt from suspicion, mistrust, or hesitation.

Origin and Etymology of dubious

Latin dubius, from dubare to vacillate; akin to Latin duo two — more at two

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1548

in the meaning defined at sense 2

See Words from the same year

dubious Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of dubious

doubtful, dubious, problematic, questionable mean not affording assurance of the worth, soundness, or certainty of something. doubtful implies little more than a lack of conviction or certainty.

- doubtful about whether I said the right thing

dubious stresses suspicion, mistrust, or hesitation.

- dubious about the practicality of the scheme

problematic applies especially to things whose existence, meaning, fulfillment, or realization is highly uncertain.

- whether the project will ever be finished is problematic

questionable may imply no more than the existence of doubt but usually suggests that the suspicions are well-grounded.

- a man of questionable honesty

DUBIOUS Defined for English Language Learners

dubious

adjective

Definition of dubious for English Language Learners

: unsure or uncertain : feeling doubt about something
: causing doubt, uncertainty, or suspicion : likely to be bad or wrong
—used ironically in phrases like dubious honor and dubious distinction to describe something bad or undesirable as if it were an honor or achievement