Incredulous Meaning
/ɪnˈkɹɛdjʊləs/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjSkeptical, disbelieving, or unable to believe.
adjExpressing or indicative of incredulity.
Sentence Examples
He was incredulous of the story.
Tom gave Mary an incredulous look.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The scientist was ____ when her colleagues claimed to have found evidence of aliens.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She gave him an ____ look when he told her that he had just won the national lottery.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from Latin incrēdulus (“unbelieving”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Xodar listened in incredulous astonishment to my narration of the events which had transpired within the arena at the rites of Issus."
— 1913 January–May, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Gods of Mars”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co., →OCLC; republished as “A Break for Liberty”, in The Gods of Mars, Chicago, Ill.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg & Co., September 1918, →OCLC, page 191:
"In safe flats and dark restaurants, never the same one twice, we ate quiet meals, exchanged our goods and gazed upon each other with the incredulous contentment that passes between mountaineers when they are standing on the peak."
— 1986, John le Carré, A Perfect Spy:
"Reactions at Sun's campus, an hour's drive from San Francisco, ranged from the fearful to the incredulous."
— 2009 March 18, Reuters, “Sun Micro Troops Fearful, Incredulous About IBM”, in Wired.com, archived from the original on 30 Jun 2013:
"Then came a report over the radio from one of St. Los pilots. He was reporting seeing ships, and they weren't American. Worse still, they were close. Incredulous', Admiral Sprague demanded confirmation, and, circling in closer, the pilot radioed back: "I can see pagoda masts. I see the biggest meatball flag on the biggest battleship I ever saw!""
— 2019 February 27, Drachinifel, 1:21 from the start, in The Battle of Samar - Odds? What are those?, archived from the original on 03 Nov 2022:
"Why euery thing adheres togither, that no dramme of a scruple, no scruple of a scruple, no obstacle, no incredulous or vnsafe circumstance […]."
— c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The scientist was ____ when her colleagues claimed to have found evidence of aliens.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She gave him an ____ look when he told her that he had just won the national lottery.