From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdubiousdu‧bi‧ous /ˈdjuːbiəs $ ˈduː-/ ●○○ adjective 1 DISHONESTprobably not honest, true, right etc The firm was accused of dubious accounting practices. Many critics regard this argument as dubious or, at best, misleading. The assumption that growth in one country benefits the whole world is highly dubious.2 NOT SURE[not before noun] not sure whether something is good or true SYN doubtful I can see you are dubious; take some time to think about it.dubious about Some universities are dubious about accepting students over the age of 30. ‘Are you sure you know what you are doing?’ Andy said, looking dubious.3 → the dubious honour/distinction/pleasure (of doing something)4 not good or not of good quality The room was decorated in dubious taste. —dubiously adverb —dubiousness noun [uncountable]
Examples from the Corpus
dubious• The new strategy of stopping drug smugglers is untested and dubious.• Local people are dubious about whether that will ever happen.• But the analogies which are used to justify the transition are dubious at best.• I was a bit dubious at first, but I was hot and sticky and the water looked tempting.• Few teams can make that dubious claim.• Aside from its dubious cultural charm, there are serious structural weaknesses which may one day embarrass us.• It would have been a rather dubious double, as Garnett was making history.• What dubious manipulation of the system would they use for their own political ends?• Newsome failed to explain his dubious personal finances.• From somewhere nearby came a very dubious smell.highly dubious• Honest answers to these questions suggest that the general assumption that growth in one country benefits the entire world is highly dubious.• Much of the wealth and property acquired by these people is highly dubious from a legal standpoint.• Considering his own, highly dubious profession, Kirov had his own set of moral values.• This means that many cylinder records surviving today have highly dubious provenances, as we shall see later.Origin dubious (1500-1600) Latin dubius, from dubare “to be unable to decide” 