skeptical
SKEP-tih-kuladjMeaning doubting; not easily convinced
Memory hook SKEP = SCOPE: look closer first. Rex claims his round rock is a dinosaur egg, so Ada pulls out her magnifying glass and looks very closely before believing a word. She is skeptical.
Dad was skeptical when the ad promised a car that would never need a single repair.
In context The salesman swore the vacuum could clean a whole house in five minutes, but Nana remained skeptical and asked to see it work on her own carpet first.
Similar doubtful, dubious, unconvinced, questioning
Opposite credulous, trusting, convinced
From Greek skeptikos, “inquiring,” from skeptesthai, “to look at, to examine.”