dubiously

«dubiously» in Mova's school dictionary: not sure something is true, good or safe — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

adverb

meaning for a pupil

1) In a doubtful way, showing you are not sure something is true, good or safe. tree →

2) In a way that is not quite honest or that people suspect. tree →

sense in the lessons

It shows a character's doubt: someone looks, asks or answers dubiously when they don't believe or trust what they hear. Common with «look», «say», «eye», «sniff». In stories it often comes when a strange plan is suggested, for example when Mole or Rat look dubiously at Toad's latest craze.

examples

• Mia looked dubiously at the green soup. tree →
• «Are you sure this is the right way?» asked Dad dubiously. tree →
• The cat sniffed the new food dubiously and walked away. tree →
• Rat eyed Toad's shiny new cart dubiously. tree →
• Alice looked dubiously at the bottle marked «DRINK ME». tree →
• He was dubiously quiet when Mum asked who had eaten the cake. tree →
• The teacher dubiously accepted the excuse about the dog eating the homework. tree →
• "Well, no," replied the little boy, dubiously. tree →

note

Adverb from «dubious» (doubtful; or not to be trusted). Pronounced DYOO-bee-us-lee. Similar: doubtfully, uncertainly, warily. «Dubious» can describe the person who doubts or the thing that is doubtful (a dubious excuse).

In the corpora

• The Rat, «dubiously» (doubtfully): «Very good news indeed, if only—if only——».

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «dubiously» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.