dubiously

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Latin dubiusbor.

English dubious

Proto-Indo-European *leyg-der.

Proto-Germanic *līkąder.

Proto-Germanic *-līkaz

Proto-Germanic *-ê

Proto-Germanic *-līkê

Proto-West Germanic *-līkē

Old English -līċe

Middle English -ly

English -ly

English dubiously

From dubious + -ly.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdub.i.əs.li/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adverb

dubiously (comparative more dubiously, superlative most dubiously)

1. In a dubious manner.
   • 1993, William J. Leonard, The Letter Carrier, page 218:

     They had perpetuated a dubiously holy union of Church and State that had refused for centuries to hear the cry of the poor and the oppressed.

   • 2018, James Lambert, “Setting the Record Straight: An In-depth Examination of Hobson-Jobson”, in International Journal of Lexicography, volume 31, number 4, →DOI, page 487:

     But, this information is relegated to a footnote, and no examples of dubiously English words are provided.

2. Accompanied by doubt, or anxious uncertainty.
   • 1997, Kelly Joyce Neff, Dear Companion: The Inner Life of Martha Jefferson, page 167:

     She looked dubiously up the steep path to the vastness of dark wood on either side. “How far is it up to the top?”

Translations

in a dubious manner

• Catalan: dubtosament (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 可疑地, 怀疑地

• Czech: pochybně
• Estonian: kahtlustäratavalt, kõhklevalt
• French: dubitativement (fr), douteusement (fr)
• German: fraglicherweise
• Ido: dubitale
• Italian: dubbiosamente (it)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: biguman (ku)

• Polish: wątpliwie
• Portuguese: duvidosamente
• Spanish: dudosamente (es)