skeptical
/ˈskɛptɪkəl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.68 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "My teacher was skeptical when I told her my dog ate my homework."
- "Tom was skeptical when Paul told him that he saw Bigfoot."
- "I can see why people are so skeptical [sic] about him, but I think he's on to something here."
- "Numerous experimental tests and other observations have been offered in favor of animal mind reading, and although many scientists are skeptical, others assert that humans are not the only species capable of representing what others do and don’t perceive and know."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *spéḱyeti Proto-Hellenic *sképt͏̌omai Ancient Greek σκέπτομαι (sképtomai) Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Hellenic *-kos Ancient Greek -κός (-kós) Ancient Greek -ικός (-ikós) Ancient Greek σκεπτικός (skeptikós)bor. Latin scepticus Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālisbor. Old French -albor. ▲ Latin -ālis Old French -elbor. ▲ Latin -ālisbor. Middle English -al English -al English skeptical From Latin scepticus + -al; attested earlier than skeptic. By surface analysis, skeptic + -al.
Word Breakdown
Usage
- American usage