What's the difference between doubtful and unlikely?

Doubtful


Definition:

  • (a.) Not settled in opinion; undetermined; wavering; hesitating in belief; also used, metaphorically, of the body when its action is affected by such a state of mind; as, we are doubtful of a fact, or of the propriety of a measure.
  • (a.) Admitting of doubt; not obvious, clear, or certain; questionable; not decided; not easy to be defined, classed, or named; as, a doubtful case, hue, claim, title, species, and the like.
  • (a.) Characterized by ambiguity; dubious; as, a doubtful expression; a doubtful phrase.
  • (a.) Of uncertain issue or event.
  • (a.) Fearful; apprehensive; suspicious.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) In a further study 1082 patients with a negative or doubtful result of the physical examination were investigated using ultrasound.
  • (2) p-Chlorophenylalanine (PCPA) also reduced the response to levodopa but the usefulness of PCPA as an inhibitor of 5HT synthesis in these experiments in doubtful since it also inhibited the hypoglycaemic effects of 5HTP and i.c.v.
  • (3) There is no doubt that new techniques in molecular biology will continue to evolve so that the goal of gene therapy for many disorders may be possible in the future.
  • (4) I never had any doubt that the vast majority of people engaged in "business" are not the exploiters but the exploited.
  • (5) There is no doubt that psychological, reactive and environmental factors do play a certain role too.
  • (6) Paul Doyle Kick-off Sunday midday Venue St Mary’s Stadium Last season Southampton 2 Leicester City 2 Live Sky Sports 1 Referee Michael Oliver This season G 18, Y 60, R 1, 3.44 cards per game Odds H 5-6 A 4-1 D 5-2 Southampton Subs from Taylor, Martina, Stephens, Davis, Rodriguez, Sims, Ward-Prowse Doubtful Bertrand, Davis, Van Dijk (all match fitness) Injured Boufal (knee, Jan), Hesketh (ankle, Feb), Targett (hamstring, Feb), Austin (shoulder, Mar), Pied (knee, Jun), Gardos (knee, unknown) Suspended None Form DWLLLL Discipline Y37 R2 Leading scorer Austin 6 Leicester City Subs from Zieler, Hamer, Wasilewski, Gray, Fuchs, James, Okazaki, Hernández, Kapustka, King Doubtful None Injured None Suspended None Unavailable Amartey, Mahrez, Slimani (Africa Cup of Nations) Form LDLWDL Discipline Y44 R1 Leading scorers Slimani, Vardy 5
  • (7) Without that, and without undertaking big changes, the service's future may fall into doubt, he says.
  • (8) This is welcome news but it needs to be borne in mind that the manufacturing sector is still far from racing ahead and serious doubts remain about the strength of demand for manufactured goods over the medium term, particularly once stimulative measures start being withdrawn.
  • (9) Doubts about Hinkley Point have deepened after a detailed report by HSBC’s energy analysts described eight key challenges to the project, which will be built by the state-backed French firm EDF and be part-financed by investment from China .
  • (10) The mean age of gravidae with doubtful smears is about 6 years beyond the mean age of gravidae with positive smears.
  • (11) I have no doubt that both the Conservative and Labour parties will maintain throughout the course of the election campaign their determination to build four submarines and 160 warheads,” he says.
  • (12) There is little doubt that when it opens next Thursday, One New Change will be jam-packed with City workers and tourists.
  • (13) We feel that they, as presented, leave serious doubt as to the validity of their conclusions.
  • (14) Contact guidance has been suggested to direct NC cells ventrally in the trunk, but this has been subject to doubt (see Newgreen and Erickson, 1986, Int.
  • (15) Although “there are serious questions and doubts in our minds over the government’s seven-day working agenda … it isn’t clear what this strike action is for and what the position of the BMA is now,” he told the Guardian.
  • (16) There is no doubt that people were killed quite deliberately by police officers.
  • (17) Other critics, even if they were unsure of the lasting relevance, were willing to give Tillmans the benefit of the doubt.
  • (18) We interpret this exaggerated positive attitude as an attempt to overcome inner fears, doubts and ambivalences.
  • (19) Another forward, Manchester United's Danny Welbeck, is a major doubt for the game with a knee complaint.
  • (20) Coghlin said: “There is no doubt that, as a consequence of the personalities involved, these proceedings attracted a very considerable degree of media publicity both before and, to a certain degree, subsequent to the trial.

Unlikely


Definition:

  • (a.) Not likely; improbable; not to be reasonably expected; as, an unlikely event; the thing you mention is very unlikely.
  • (a.) Not holding out a prospect of success; likely to fail; unpromising; as, unlikely means.
  • (a.) Not such as to inspire liking; unattractive; disagreeable.
  • (adv.) In an unlikely manner.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The pancreatic changes are unlikely to be an artefact, but rather a direct toxic effect of the alcohol as confirmed by the biochemical changes.
  • (2) This was unlike the action of the calcium channel blocker, cadmium, which reduced the calcium action potential and the a.h.p.
  • (3) 2.35pm: West Ham co-owner David Sullivan has admitted that a deal to land Miroslav Klose is unlikely to go through following the striker's star performances in South Africa.
  • (4) Unlike Milo, he appears to be – to some extent – convinced of the truth of what he’s saying.
  • (5) Recent studies have shown that an aberration in platelet-derived growth factor gene expression is unlikely to be a factor in proliferation of smooth-muscle cells.
  • (6) Their contour lengths varied from 0.28 to 51 micron, but unlike in the case of maize, a large difference was not observed in the distribution of molecular classes greater than 1.0 micron between N and S cytoplasms of sugar beet.
  • (7) Psychiatry unlike philosophy (with its problem of solipsism) recognizes the existence of other minds from the nonverbal communication between doctor and patient.
  • (8) Businesses fleeing Brexit will head to New York not EU, warns LSE chief Read more Amid attempts by Frankfurt, Paris and Dublin to catch possible fallout from London, Sir Jon Cunliffe said it was highly unlikely that any EU centre could replicate the services offered by the UK’s financial services industry.
  • (9) A full-scale war is unlikely but there is clear concern in Seoul about the more realistic threat of a small-scale attack on the South Korean military or a group of islands near the countries' disputed maritime border in the Yellow Sea.
  • (10) It is concluded that selection against insertional mutations is unlikely to be the major factor involved in the containment of element abundance.
  • (11) An antagonism is unlikely when ciprofloxacin is combined with one of the beta-lactams studied or with tobramycin.
  • (12) "Gut closure" is an unlikely explanation for these findings.
  • (13) This "gender identity movement" has brought together such unlikely collaborators as surgeons, endocrinologists, psychologists, psychiatrists, gynecologists, and research specialists into a mutually rewarding arena.
  • (14) The nature of these infiltrative foci remains uncertain; however, they are unlikely to have been of neoplastic origin and may be due to interleukin-2-induced lymphocytic infiltration.
  • (15) Unlike results seen in the goldfish optic nerve, injury to the rat optic nerve induced no observable increase in laminin content or change in its distribution.
  • (16) Unlikely, he laughs: "We were founded on the idea of distributing information as far as possible."
  • (17) Unlike most birds of prey, which are territorial and fight each other over nesting and hunting grounds, the hen harrier nests close to other harriers.
  • (18) And this has opened up a loophole for businesses to be morally bankrupt, ignoring the obligations to its workforce because no legal conduct has been established.” Whatever the outcome of the pending lawsuits, it’s unlikely that just one model will work for everybody.
  • (19) Unlike unattenuated virus, the Us3::pgC-lacZ recombinant caused little apparent damage to normal hippocampal morphology.
  • (20) Unlike thiorphan, 5 nmol RB38A alone was able to inhibit [3H]DAGO binding by 60%.