doubt

UK/daʊt/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Canada/dʌʊt/

doubt verb: to consider questionable or unlikely; to hesitate to believe; to lack confidence in; to question.

Verb

doubt (third-person singular simple present doubts, present participle doubting, simple past and past participle doubted)

(ambitransitive) To consider questionable or unlikely; to hesitate to believe; to lack confidence in; to question.
- He doubted that was really what you meant.
- I had no wish to go, though I doubt if they would have noticed me even if I had.
Synonyms:

distrust, mistrust
(transitive, archaic outside Scotland) To harbour suspicion about; suspect.
- I walk by the Rule of my Maſter, you walk by the rude working of your fancies. You are counted thieves already, by the Lord of the way; therefore, I doubt you will not be found true men at the end of the way.1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC, page 40
- Rushing to the door of the church, [Robert the] Bruce met two powerful barons, [Roger de] Kirkpatrick of Closeburn, and James de Lindsay, who eagerly asked him what tidings? "Bad tidings," answered Bruce, "I doubt I have slain [John] Comyn." "Doubtest thou?" said Kirkpatrick, "I make sicker" (i.e....1815, Walter Scott, “Notes to Canto Second”, in The Lord of the Isles, a Poem, Edinburgh: […] [F]or Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown; by James Ballantyne...
(archaic, transitive) To anticipate with dread or fear; to apprehend.
- The rest of his horsemen the Duke sent to his campe, bicause they heard a great noise there, and doubted the enimies sally, and indeede they had issued foorth thrise, but were alwaies repulsed, especially through the valiantns of the English men that the Duke left there behind him [...]1596, Philippe de Commynes, The historie of Philip de Commines Knight, Lord of Argenton, London: Ar. Hatfield, pages 50-51
- Fear naught—nay, that I need not say— / But—doubt not aught from mine array. / Thou art my guest;—I pledged my word / As far as Coilantogle ford: [...]1810, Walter Scott, “Canto V. The Combat.”, in The Lady of the Lake; […], Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for John Ballantyne and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, and William...
(obsolete, transitive) To fill with fear; to affright.
- I'll tell ye all my fears, one ſingle valour, / the vertues of the valiant Caratach / more doubts me then all Britain: [...]c. 1613 (first performance), John Fletcher, “The Tragedie of Bonduca”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act I...
(ambitransitive, obsolete) To dread, to fear.
- Edmond aþelstones broþer · after him was king · / Godmon & doutede · god þoru alle þing ·[1297, Robert of Gloucester, “Edmond”, in William Aldis Wright, editor, The Metrical Chronicle of Robert of Gloucester. […] (Rerum Britannicarum Medii Aevi Scriptores; no. 86), part I (in Middle...
- Whilome in youth, when flowred my ioyfull ſpring, / Like ſwallow ſwift I wandred here and there: / For heat of heedleſſe luſt me ſo did ſting, / That I of doubted daunger had no feare.1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “December. Ægloga Duodecima.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Iohn Wolfe for Iohn Harrison the yonger, […], →OCLC, folio 49, recto

Noun

doubt (countable and uncountable, plural doubts)

Disbelief or uncertainty (about something); (countable) a particular instance of such disbelief or uncertainty.
- There was some doubt as to who the child's real father was.
- I have doubts about how to convert this code to JavaScript.
Synonyms:

incertitude

Antonyms:

belief, confidence, faith
(countable, obsolete outside of India) A point of uncertainty, especially a yes/no or a multiple-choice question
- Ma'am, I have a doubt about today's lecture
- It is entirely normal to hear a statement like "I have just one doubt, miss" or "If you have any doubts before the exam tomorrow, come see me in the staff room". The doubts in the aforementioned sentences are not as much rooted in a lack of faith as in a lack of understanding.2006 July 12, Vishy, “Vishy's Indian English Dictionary: doubt”, in Vishy's Indian English Dictionary, archived from the original on 09 Mar 2008
Synonyms:

disbelief

Antonyms:

belief, tenet
(countable, non-native speakers' English) a question (that one has)

doubt meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

doubt in Hindi

to lack confidence in: संदेह करना sandeh karnā
disbelief or uncertainty (about something): संदेह sandeh, दुविधा duvidhā, शक śak, गुमान gumān
point of uncertainty, query, doubt: दुविधा duvidhā

doubt in Tamil

disbelief or uncertainty (about something): சந்தேகம் cantēkam, ஐயம் aiyam
point of uncertainty, query, doubt: ஐயம் aiyam, சந்தேகம் cantēkam

doubt in Urdu

to lack confidence in: شک کرنا śak karnā
disbelief or uncertainty (about something): شَک śak, گُمان gumān, شُبْہَہ śubha, سَنْدیہ sandeh

doubt in Bengali

disbelief or uncertainty (about something): সন্দেহ śondeho

More languagesFewer languages

doubt in Telugu: సందేహించు sandēhiñcu, శంకించు śaṅkiñcu, సందేహము sandēhamu, శంక śaṅka
doubt in Malayalam: സംശയിക്കുക saṁśayikkuka, സംശയം saṁśayaṁ
doubt in Kannada: ಸಂದೇಹ sandēha
doubt in Punjabi: ਸ਼ੱਕ śakka, ਗੁਮਾਨ gumān, ਸੰਸਾ sansā
doubt in Gujarati: વહેમ vahěm, ابهام ibhām
doubt in Odia: ଯୁତକ jutaka
doubt in Sanskrit: शङ्के śaṅke
doubt in Sinhala: සක saka, කැස kæsa
doubt in Assamese: সন্দেহ xondeh
doubt in Pashto: شک šak, شبهه šebhá
doubt in Tagalog: alinlangan, duda
doubt in Arabic: شَكَّ šakka, شُبْهَة šubha, شَكّ šakk
doubt in Malay: keraguan
doubt in Indonesian: bimbang, meragukan, ragu, ragu akan
doubt in Thai: สงสัย sǒng-sǎi
doubt in Vietnamese: nghi ngờ
doubt in Myanmar: သံသယ samsa.ya.

Examples of doubt in a sentence

Why doubteſt thou in thy ſelf⸝ there is no thyrde waye, […]1533 November 25 (Gregorian calendar), Erasmus of Roterdame, “The Seconde Rule”, in [William Tyndale], transl., A Booke Called in Latyn...
For which cauſe euen in matters diuine, concerning ſome things we may lawfully doubt and ſuſpend our iudgement, inclining neyther to one ſide or other, [...]1594, Richard Hooker, “The Second Booke. Concerning Their First Position who Vrge Reformation in the Church of England: Namely, that...
He that will enter in muſt firſt without / Stand knocking at the Gate, nor need he doubt / That is a knocker but to enter in; / For God can love him, and forgive his ſin.1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC...
Have I not manag'd my contrivance well, / To try your Love and make you doubt of mine?1681, John Dryden, The Spanish Fryar: Or, the Double Discovery. […], London: […] Richard Tonson and Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, Act III, page...

All 40 example sentences with doubt

Synonyms of doubt

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of doubt

Forms of doubt

Verb
third-person singular present	doubts
present participle	doubting
past participle	doubted
past	doubted
Noun
plural	doubts
alternative form	dout

Past tense of doubt: doubted

Plural of doubt: doubts

Origin of doubt

The verb is derived from Middle English douten (“to doubt, fear, worry”) [and other forms], from Old French douter, doter, duter (compare Middle French doubter), from Latin dubitāre (“to be uncertain, doubt; to hesitate, waver in coming to an opinion; to consider, ponder”); the further etymology is uncertain, but one theory is that dubitō may be derived from dubius (“fluctuating, wavering; doubtful, dubious, uncertain”), from duhibius (“held as two”), from duo (“two”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ (“two”)) + habeō (“to have, hold”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰeh₁bʰ- (“to grab, take”)). Spelling reformers of the early modern period added the letter b to reflect the Latin root dubitō, but it has never been pronounced in English. The noun is derived from Middle English dout, doute (“uncertainty, hesitation; questionable point; anxiety, fear, reverence”) [and other forms], from Old French doute, dote, dute (“uncertain feeling, doubt”), from doter, douter, duter (“to doubt, fear”) (compare Middle French doubter; modern French douter (“to doubt, suspect”)); see further etymology above. The ESL "question" sense is a semantic loan from Romance cognates...

Words formed from doubt

Phrases with doubt

Words that rhyme with doubt

42 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about doubt

What does doubt mean?: Doubt means to consider questionable or unlikely; to hesitate to believe; to lack confidence in; to question.
What is doubt in Hindi?: Doubt in Hindi is संदेह करना (sandeh karnā), दुविधा (duvidhā), संदेह (sandeh). See Doubt meaning in Hindi.
How do you use doubt in a sentence?: Why doubteſt thou in thy ſelf⸝ there is no thyrde waye, […]
What part of speech is doubt?: Doubt can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce doubt?: Doubt is pronounced /daʊt/ (UK).
What is the past tense of doubt?: The past tense of doubt is doubted.

Words near doubt in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: doubt (page history and authors); ಸಂದೇಹ (Kannada) (page history and authors); ਗੁਮਾਨ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); ابهام (Gujarati) (page history and authors); ଯୁତକ (Odia) (page history and authors); කැස (Sinhala) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-doubt.ogg.

Cite this entry: “doubt.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/doubt. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.