doubtless

doubtless

English

Alternative forms

• doubtlesse, doutless (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English douteles, dowteles, equivalent to doubt +‎ -less.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdaʊ̯tləs/
• (Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈdʌʊ̯tləs/

• Audio (US)

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Adjective

doubtless (not comparable)

1. Characterized by or experiencing no doubt at all, certain; undoubted; undoubting.
   • 1880, B. Stewart and P. G. Tait, The Unseen Universe, Macmillan (London), p. xiii:

     There are those who have doubtless faith in revelation.

   • 1927, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter 7, in The Outlaw of Torn:

     It is doubtless that the old reprobate who sued for his daughter's hand heard some unsavory truths from the man.

2. (obsolete) Free from fear or suspicion.
   • c. 1596, William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene i]:

     Pretty child, sleep doubtless and secure.

Derived terms

• doubtlessness

Translations

characterized by no doubt

Bulgarian: несъмнено (bg) (nesǎmneno), безспорно (bg) (bezsporno), сигурно (bg) (sigurno) Esperanto: senduba Czech: nepochybný German: zweifelsfrei (de), zweifellos (de) Old Norse: iflauss Polish: bez wątpliwości Russian: несомне́нный (ru) (nesomnénnyj) Spanish: indudable (es), sin duda (es) Swedish: tveklös (sv)

Adverb

doubtless (not comparable)

1. Without doubt; very probably, in all likelihood; doubtlessly.
   • 1893, Ambrose Bierce, "The Realm Of The Unreal":

     I cannot remember that I spoke a word, though doubtless I did.

   • 1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M. Hill Co., OCLC 297099816:

     The men, Dorothy thought, were about as old as Uncle Henry, for two of them had beards. But the little woman was doubtless much older. Her face was covered with wrinkles, her hair was nearly white, and she walked rather stiffly.

   • 2017 June 26, Alexis Petridis, “Glastonbury 2017 verdict: Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Lorde, Stormzy and more”, in the Guardian‎:

     Thom Yorke’s onstage pronouncements became less abstract and more effusive, they played the songs the less committed audience members doubtless wanted to hear in the first place: Paranoid Android, Creep, Fake Plastic Trees and Karma Police. At the end of the latter, Yorke happily led an audience singalong.

Synonyms

• indubitably, undoubtedly, unquestionably, without a doubt, indisputably

Derived terms

• doubtlessly

Translations

without question

Chinese: Mandarin: (please verify) 毫無疑問／毫无疑问 (zh) (háowúyíwèn) Danish: utvivlsomt Dutch: zonder twijfel Esperanto: sendube (eo) Finnish: epäilemättä (fi) French: sans aucun doute (fr), sans nul doute (fr), indubitablement (fr) German: zweifellos (de) Old Norse: iflaust Spanish: indudablemente (es) Swedish: utan tvivel, tveklöst (sv), utan tvivel

References

• doubtless at OneLook Dictionary Search