doubting

/ˈdaʊtɪŋ/

doubting is the present participle and gerund of doubt.

Meaning of doubt

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.
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
(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
(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...

See all 8 meanings of doubt

Noun

doubting (plural doubtings)

A condition of doubt.
- A believer may be sometimes so overwhelmed with doubtings, that he may not be able to perceive an assurance in himself.1811, Walter Marshall, The Gospel-mystery of Sanctification Opened, page 156
- Black is night's cope;
  But death will not appal
  One who, past doubtings all
  Waits in unhope.1902, Thomas Hardy, In Tenebris I

Adjective

doubting (comparative more doubting, superlative most doubting)

Full of doubt; dubious.
- Indeed, had not I appeared to the world with all possible demonstrations of authority and truth, teaching men a most holy and undeniable doctrine, sufficient to reform their manners and amend their lives, and moreover demonstrating my divine commission, by such proofs as ought to satisfy and...1814, Paul Wright, A Complete Life of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, page 226
- Had Keir been told two years ago that he would be involved in all these domesticities, he would have been more doubting than a doubting Thomas.1932, George Warwick Deeping, Smith

Forms of doubting

Noun
plural	doubtings
Adjective
comparative	more doubting
superlative	most doubting

Words formed from doubting

Phrases with doubting

Words that rhyme with doubting

Questions about doubting

What does doubting mean?: Doubting means a condition of doubt.
What is doubting the present participle and gerund of?: Doubting is the present participle and gerund of doubt.
What part of speech is doubting?: Doubting can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce doubting?: Doubting is pronounced /ˈdaʊtɪŋ/.
What is the plural of doubting?: The plural of doubting is doubtings.

Words near doubting in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: doubting (page history and authors); doubt (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-doubting.wav.

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