Doubt & Skepticism Vocabulary

not easily convinced; having doubts

“Scientists are naturally skeptical of extraordinary claims.”

Origin: Greek skeptikos `inquiring, reflective` (from skeptesthai `to look, consider`)

unwilling or unable to believe something

“She gave him an incredulous look when he claimed innocence.”

Origin: Latin incredulus `not believing` (in- `not` + credulus `believing`, from credere `to believe`)

hesitating or doubting; not to be relied upon

“The origins of this artifact are dubious at best.”

Origin: Latin dubius `doubtful` (from duo `two`, suggesting wavering between two options)

neither believing nor disbelieving; uncertain

“He remained agnostic on the question of extraterrestrial life.”

Origin: Greek agnostos `unknown, unknowable` (a- `not` + gnostos `known`, from gignoskein `to know`)

having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas

“She felt ambivalent about accepting the promotion.”

Origin: Latin ambi- `both` + valens `being strong` (from valere `to be strong`)

open to more than one interpretation; ambiguous

“His equivocal response satisfied no one.”

Origin: Latin aequivocus `of equal voice, ambiguous` (aequi- `equal` + vox `voice`)

not certain or fixed; provisional

“The conclusions are tentative pending further research.”

Origin: Medieval Latin tentativus `testing, trying` (from Latin tentare `to feel, try`)

arranged or existing for the present, possibly to change

“This is only a provisional agreement.”

Origin: Latin provisio `foresight, preparation` (from providere `to foresee`, pro- `before` + videre `to see`)

an opinion based on incomplete information

“We can only conjecture about their motives.”

Origin: Latin coniectura `interpretation, guess` (from conicere `to throw together`, com- `together` + iacere `to throw`)

to suppose that something is true without evidence

“I can only surmise what happened that night.”

Origin: Old French surmise `accusation` (from surmettre `to accuse`, sur- `upon` + mettre `to put`)

to form a theory without firm evidence

“Experts speculate about the causes of the crash.”

Origin: Latin speculatus `observed` (from specula `watchtower`, from specere `to look`)

to put forward as a hypothesis

“Scientists hypothesize that dark matter exists.”

Origin: Greek hypothesis `foundation, base` (hypo- `under` + thesis `placing`, from tithenai `to place`)