Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
DOUBTFUL
doubtful, dubious
(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”
doubtful, dubious, dubitable, in question
(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
doubtful, tentative
(adjective) unsettled in mind or opinion; “drew a few tentative conclusions”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Adjective
doubtful (comparative more doubtful, superlative most doubtful)
Subject to, or causing doubt.
Experiencing or showing doubt, sceptical.
Undecided or of uncertain outcome.
(obsolete) Fearsome, dreadful.
Improbable or unlikely.
Suspicious, or of dubious character.
Unclear or unreliable.
Noun
doubtful (plural doubtfuls)
A doubtful person or thing.
Source: Wiktionary
Doubt"ful, a.
1. Not settled in opinion; undetermined; wavering; hesitating in belief; also used, metaphorically, of the body when its action is affected by such a state of mind; as, we are doubtful of a fact, or of the propriety of a measure. Methinks I should know you, and know this man; Yet I am doubtful. Shak. With doubtful feet and wavering resolution. Milton.
2. Admitting of doubt; not obvious, clear, or certain; questionable; not decided; not easy to be defined, classed, or named; as, a doubtful case, hue, claim, title, species, and the like. Beauty is but a vain and doubtful good. Shak. Is it a great cruelty to expel from our abode the enemy of our peace, or even the doubtful friend [i. e., one as to whose sincerity there may be doubts] Bancroft.
3. Characterized by ambiguity; dubious; as, a doubtful expression; a doubtful phrase.
4. Of uncertain issue or event. We . . . have sustained one day in doubtful fight. Milton. The strife between the two principles had been long, fierce, and doubtful. Macaulay.
5. Fearful; apprehensive; suspicious. [Obs.] I am doubtful that you have been conjunct And bosomed with her. Shak.
Syn.
– Wavering; vacillating; hesitating; undetermined; distrustful; dubious; uncertain; equivocal; ambiguous; problematical; questionable.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
3 April 2025
WHOLE
(noun) an assemblage of parts that is regarded as a single entity; “how big is that part compared to the whole?”; “the team is a unit”
Coffee Trivia
