Doubtful vs Fickle - What's the difference?
doubtful | fickle | Related terms |
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.}}
Quick to change one’s opinion or allegiance; insincere; not loyal or reliable.
(figurative) changeable
* 2014, (Paul Salopek), Blessed. Cursed. Claimed. , National Geographic (December 2014)[http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/12/pilgrim-roads/salopek-text]
To deceive; flatter.
To puzzle; perplex; nonplus.
As adjectives the difference between doubtful and fickle
is that doubtful is subject to, or causing doubt while fickle is quick to change one’s opinion or allegiance; insincere; not loyal or reliable.As a verb fickle is
to deceive; flatter.doubtful
English
Alternative forms
* doubtfull (archaic)Adjective
(en adjective)fickle
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) fikil, fikil, from (etyl) {{term, ficol, , fickle, cunning, tricky , deceitful, lang=ang}}, equivalent to . More at (l).Adjective
(en-adj)- To the south, the vast geometrical deserts of Arabian nomads, a redoubt of feral movement, of fickle winds, of open space, of saddle leather—home to the wild Bedouin tribes.