| 词组 | dubious, doubtful |
| 释义 | dubious, doubtful Is it permissible to say that you are dubious about something? Follett 1966 states that "when the word is used with discrimination, the doubt is elsewhere than in the person or thing described as dubious. This person or thing is the object of doubt by another or others, not the author or abode of doubt." Macmillan 1982 is of the same opinion: "The result of an action or the truth of a statement may be dubious, while the person who questions either is doubtful." We are dubious about this distinction. Dubious has been used—even by writers of discrimination—to mean "doubting, unsettled in opinion, suspicious." • Mr. Cruncher was soothed, but shook his head in a dubious and moral way —Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, 1859 • Mamma had shaken a dubious head —Rose Macaulay, Told by an Idiot, 1923 • He had never heard of me and was a little dubious about signing his name —Henry Miller, The Air-Conditioned Nightmare, 1945 • When I was hired, old George was dubious, and with reason, because as a salesman I was tongue-tied — Bill Gerry, Yale Rev., Winter 1948 • ... one project about which their top management was very dubious —Peter F. Drucker, Harpers, January 1972 Follett's objection may possibly stem from the fact that the "doubting" sense of dubious is not as common as the senses that taken together mean "giving rise to uncertainty." But the "doubting" sense is also only one segment of the meaning of doubtful. Both dubious and doubtful are frequently used to refer to the object of doubt. Doubtful may imply a simple lack of conviction or certainty, while dubious usually implies suspicion, mistrust, or hesitation; however, in many contexts either word can be used. |
| 随便看 |
|
英语用法大全包含2888条英语用法指南，基本涵盖了全部常用英文词汇及语法点的翻译及用法，是英语学习的有利工具。