doubt

verb · noun

Simple meaning

To be undecided about.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

dowt

US device voice

IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈdaʊt

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

ambitransitive
To be undecided about; to lack confidence in; to disbelieve, to question.
ambitransitive
Lack confidence in or have doubts about
ambitransitive
Consider unlikely or have doubts about
“I doubt that she will accept his proposal of marriage.”

noun

Uncertainty about the truth or factuality or existence of something
uncountablecountable
Disbelief or uncertainty (about something); (countable) a particular instance of such disbelief or uncertainty.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty: A2 · Elementary (estimated)
Frequency: Common
Typical Use: General English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: (ambitransitive) To be undecided about; to lack confidence in; to disbelieve, to question.

Used this way, doubt is a reasonably familiar word with a faintly unfavourable edge. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone: Slightly negative
Formality: Neutral
Intensity: Moderate
How common: Moderately common
Connotation: Critical or judgemental
Usage feel: Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use doubt

“I doubt that she will accept his proposal of marriage.”verb

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

doubtlessadverbDerived adverb
Without doubt.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

doubting thomasnounCompound term
The Apostle who would not believe the resurrection of Jesus until he saw Jesus with his own eyes.
thomas the doubting apostlenounCompound term
The Apostle who would not believe the resurrection of Jesus until he saw Jesus with his own eyes.
beyond a doubtadverbCompound term
In a manner or to a degree that could not be doubted.
without doubtadverbCompound term
Admittedly.
beyond a shadow of a doubtadverbCompound term
In a manner or to a degree that could not be doubted.
no doubtadverbCompound term
Admittedly.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

verb

Sense: to be undecided about

questionsuspect

noun

Sense: uncertainty about the truth or factuality

dubietyRarequestionincertitudeRaredoubtfulnessRaredubiousnessRare

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.