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doubtable. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
doubtable, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
doubtable in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
doubtable you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
From Middle English doutable, from Old French doutable, dotable, equivalent to doubt + -able.
Adjective
doubtable (comparative more doubtable, superlative most doubtable)
- (uncommon) Capable of being doubted; doubtful; dubious; dubitable. See usage notes below.
1971, L. J. Swingle, “On Reading Romantic Poetry”, in PMLA, volume 86, number 5, page 976:Descartes adopts the tool of a radical skepticism, submitting to question established beliefs, exposing them to the test of doubt, breaking them down when they prove doubtable.
- (obsolete) Fearsome; redoubtable.
Usage notes
Philosophers often use "doubtable" in its literal sense of "capable of being doubted." In other scholarly and literary contexts, the more accepted direct synonym of "doubtable" is "dubitable." In all other usage, "doubtful" and "dubious" are far more common synonyms. See also dubious § Usage notes.
Synonyms
- (doubtful, dubious, capable of being doubted): uncertain
Coordinate terms
Derived terms
References
- doubtable in An American Dictionary of the English Language, by Noah Webster, 1828.
- “doubtable”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “doubtable”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
- Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.