adj.; dubiety, dubitation†, dubitancy†, dubitousness†.
hesitation, suspense; perplexity, embarrassment, dilemma,
bewilderment; timidity &c (fear) 860; vacillation &c 605; diaporesis†,
indetermination.
vagueness &c adj.; haze, fog; obscurity &c (darkness) 421;
ambiguity &c (double meaning) 520; contingency, dependence, dependency,
double contingency, possibility upon a possibility; open question &c
(question) 461; onus probandi [Lat.]; blind bargain, pig in a poke,
leap in the dark, something or other; needle in a haystack, needle in a
bottle of hay; roving commission.
precariousness &c adj.; fallibility.
V. be uncertain &c adj.; wonder whether.
lose the clue, lose the clew, scent; miss one's way.
not know what to make of &c (unintelligibility) 519, not know
which way to turn, not know whether one stands on one s head or one's
heels; float in a sea of doubt, hesitate, flounder; lose oneself, lose
one's head; muddle one's brains.
render uncertain &c adj.; put out, pose, puzzle, perplex,
embarrass; confuse, confound; bewilder, bother, molder, addle the wits,
throw off the scent, ambiguas in vulgus spargere voces [Lat.]; keep in
suspense.
doubt &c (disbelieve) 485; hang in the balance, tremble in the
balance; depend.
Adj. uncertain; casual; random &c (aimless) 621; changeable &c 149.
doubtful, dubious; indecisive; unsettled, undecided, undetermined;
in suspense, open to discussion; controvertible; in question &c
(inquiry) 461.
vague; indeterminate, indefinite; ambiguous, equivocal; undefined,
undefinable; confused &c (indistinct) 447; mystic, oracular; dazed.
perplexing &c v.; enigmatic, paradoxical, apocryphal,
problematical, hypothetical; experimental &c 463.
unpredictable, unforeseeable (unknowable) 519.
fallible, questionable, precarious, slippery, ticklish, debatable,
disputable; unreliable, untrustworthy.
contingent, contingent on, dependent on; subject to; dependent on
circumstances; occasional; provisional.
unauthentic, unauthenticated, unauthoritative; unascertained,
unconfirmed; undemonstrated; untold, uncounted.
in a state of uncertainty, in a cloud, in a maze; bushed, off the
track; ignorant, &c 491; afraid to say; out of one's reckoning, astray,
adrift; at sea, at fault, at a loss, at one's wit's end, at a nonplus;
puzzled &c v.; lost, abroad, désorienté; distracted, distraught.
Adv. pendente lite [Lat.]; sub spe rati [Lat.].
Phr. Heaven knows; who can tell? who shall decide when doctors
disagree? ambiguas in vulgum spargere voces [Lat.].
SECTION IV.
REASONING PROCESSES