Informal or dialectal adjective meaning doubtful, uncertain, or full of doubt.
Formed from 'doubt' plus the diminutive or informal adjectival suffix '-y' (from Old English 'ig'). This '-y' suffix creates many informal adjectives like 'grumpy,' 'sleepy,' and 'lucky,' though 'doubty' is not standard modern English.
The '-y' suffix is how children and informal speakers naturally create adjectives—they'd say 'I'm feely' or 'that's jumpy'—which is why 'doubty' sounds like something a kid would say, and that informality is exactly why it's never made it into formal English dictionaries.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.