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Doubtful vs Doubtable - What's the difference?

doubtful | doubtable |

In obsolete terms the difference between doubtful and doubtable

is that doubtful is fearsome, dreadful while doubtable is fearsome; redoubtable.

As adjectives the difference between doubtful and doubtable

is that doubtful is subject to, or causing doubt while doubtable is capable of being doubted; doubtful; dubious; dubitable. See usage notes below.

doubtful

English

Alternative forms

* doubtfull (archaic)

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Subject to, or causing doubt
  • or showing doubt, sceptical
  • Undecided or of uncertain outcome
  • (obsolete) Fearsome, dreadful.
  • *, Bk.XIV, Ch.vii:
  • *:‘With whom,’ seyde Sir Percivale, ‘shall I fyght?’ ‘With the moste douteful champion of the worlde.’
  • Improbable or unlikely
  • Suspicious, or of dubious character
  • Unclear or unreliable
  • *{{quote-book, year=1922, author=E.R. Eddison, title=The Worm Ouroboros
  • , passage=The pupils of her great eyes were large in the doubtful lamplight, swallowing their green fires in deep pools of mystery and darkness.}}

    doubtable

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (uncommon) Capable of being doubted; doubtful; dubious; dubitable. See usage notes below.
  • * 1971 , L. J. Swingle, "On Reading Romantic Poetry," PMLA , vol. 86, no. 5, p. 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.

    Synonyms

    * (doubtful, dubious, capable of being doubted): uncertain

    Derived terms

    * undoubtable

    References

    * * * * Oxford English Dictionary , 2nd ed., 1989.