Dubious vs Unstable - What's the difference?
dubious | unstable | Related terms |
Arousing doubt; questionable; open to suspicion.
* 2011 , Nigel Jones, "A Tale of Two Scandals", History Today , February 2011, Vol. 61 Issue 2, pages 10–17
In disbelief; wavering, uncertain, or hesitating in opinion; inclined to doubt; undecided.
* 2010 , John M. Broder, "Global Climate-Change Talks Begin in Cancun With More Modest Expectations", New York Times , November 30, Section A, Column 0, Foreign Desk, page 12
Having a strong tendency to change.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= Fluctuating; not constant.
Fickle.
Unpredictable.
(chemistry) Readily decomposable.
(physics) Radioactive, especially with a short half-life.
As adjectives the difference between dubious and unstable
is that dubious is arousing doubt; questionable; open to suspicion while unstable is having a strong tendency to change.dubious
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- After he made some dubious claims about the company, fewer people trusted him.
- Evasive, womanising, boastful, malicious, untrustworthy, an inveterate gambler who combined his mediocre military career with running a high-class brothel, permanently cash strapped and viciously quarrelsome, his character is as dubious as his unsavoury appearance.
- She was dubious about my plan at first, but later I managed to persuade her to cooperate.
- Last year, President Obama had large majorities in Congress and hopes of passing a comprehensive climate and energy bill. Next year, he faces a new Congress much more dubious about the reality of climate change and considerably more hostile to international efforts to deal with it.
Derived terms
* dubious honor / dubious honour * dubiously * dubiousnessSee also
*unstable
English
Adjective
(en adjective)Yesterday’s fuel, passage=The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania.