different between questionable vs decisive

English

Alternative forms

• quæstionable (archaic)

Etymology

question +? -able

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?kw?st???n?bl?/
• Hyphenation: ques?tio?nable

Adjective

questionable (comparative more questionable, superlative most questionable)

1. Problematic; open to doubt or challenge.

   It is questionable if the universe is open or closed.

   • 1881, Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady, London: Macmillan, Volume I, Chapter 3, p. 28,^[1]

     A crude, cold rain was falling heavily; the spring-time presented itself as a questionable improvement.

2. Of dubious respectability or morality.

   Tiffiny’s behavior is highly questionable.

   • 1920, Carolyn Wells, Raspberry Jam, Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, Chapter 18, p. 302,^[2]

     […] he had a love of money—a sort of acquisitiveness, that led him into questionable dealings.

3. (obsolete) Inviting questions; inviting inquiry.
   • c. 1600, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act I, Scene 4,^[3]

     Thou com’st in such a questionable shape

     That I will speak to thee.

Derived terms

Translations

English

Etymology

From Middle French décisif

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d??sa?s?v/
• Rhymes: -a?s?v

Adjective

decisive (comparative more decisive, superlative most decisive)

1. Having the power or quality of deciding a question or controversy; putting an end to contest or controversy; final; conclusive.

   A decisive battle is fatal for one side's war chances

   A decisive vote
2. Marked by promptness and decision.

   A noble instance of this attribute of the decisive character. -J. Foster.

Synonyms

• decided
• positive
• conclusive

Antonyms

• indecisive

Derived terms

• decisively
• decisiveness

Related terms

• decidable
• decided

Translations

References

• decisive in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

• decisive in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• iDevices

Italian

Adjective

decisive

1. feminine plural of decisivo