What is the difference between skeptical and cynical? By extension, it has come to mean “doubting something will happen”, which can be somewhat close in meaning to skeptical in some cases, but not generally As an example, in the sentence “John is skeptical about the motorway extension”, you could replace skeptical with cynical without altering the meaning In the sentence “John is
What is the right preposition after skeptical? You pose two different uses of the word and thought In the one case a speaker is skeptical "of" a "truth" and in the later he is "posing" (in) skepticism as a position One who is skeptical of a "truth" is in fact doubtful of its authenticity One who poses as a skeptic writes regarding his belief in the inaccuracy of the given "truth "
Why did sceptical become skeptical in the US? The earliest occurrence of sceptical (or skeptical) that I've been able to find in an English dictionary is in Edward Phillips, The New World of English Words, or a Generall Dictionary (1658): Sceptical , (Greek) contemplative, whence Scepticks are a sort of Philosophers who onely consider and contemplate of things without determining any thing
expressions - The phrase - I remain sceptical vs I continue to . . . "I am skeptical" refers only to the present time and carries no implied information about my skepticism in the past, or any events that might have changed it "continue to remain skeptical" is a bit of a tautology "Continue to be skeptical" and "remain skeptical" mean the same thing However "continue to remain" is fairly common usage
single word requests - English Language Usage Stack Exchange Stack Exchange Network Stack Exchange network consists of 183 Q A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers
Terminology - What is the exact word to describe being skeptical of . . . You could consider the term scapegoater While this exact word does not appear to be listed in the stock online dicitonaries, it does appear in literature, beginning around 1910, and increasing in usage after 1940, as evidenced by this ngram
Meaning of positively skeptical? - English Language Usage Stack . . . I hope it works I can't wait to see it and to try it But until I do, I (remain) positively skeptical "' My question is, does can "positively" convey any traces of the following: "I'm certainly skeptical; my viewpoint will not shift from being skeptical to wishfully thinking the product will succeed, until I have seen it and tried it "
meaning - Suspect versus Suspicious as Adjectives - English . . . Animate entities are often described as suspicious, but not really as suspect, to express that they have a skeptical, suspecting attitude One could say that suspicious is more psychological or mental than suspect Consider again the suspicious list: MAN, PERSON "A suspicious man person" can mean that the person is suspicious skeptical about
a sceptical customer - English Language Usage Stack Exchange You can use skeptical in this case, yes If you're looking for another a more idiomatic phrase, what you are describing (especially since it is a chronic trait) sounds like a classic example of a doubting Thomas someone who rarely trusts or believes things before having proof : a doubtful or skeptical person