incredulous

CEFRC2

/ɪnˈkɹɛdjʊləs/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

01
adjective
Unwilling or unable to believe something.
02
adjective
Extra detail
Difficult to believe; incredible.

Examples

He was incredulous of the story.
Tom gave Mary an incredulous look.

At a glance

Sits at C2 on the CEFR scale

Senses: 4
Parts of speech: 1
Citations: 5

Also pronounced

/ˌɪnˈkɹɛ.d͡ʒə.ləs/

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

Expressing or indicative of incredulity.
Skeptical, disbelieving, or unable to believe.

More examples

In context

1984, Supreme Court of Illinois, opinion in People v Terrell, 459 N.E.2d 1337, quoted in David C. Brody, James R. Acker, and Wayne A. Logan, Criminal Law, Jones & Bartlett Publishers (2001), →ISBN, page 564, Faced with these facts, we find it incredulous that...
Xodar listened in incredulous astonishment to my narration of the events which had transpired within the arena at the rites of Issus.
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.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The scientist was blank when her colleagues claimed to have found evidence of aliens.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Citations

The word in print, with each source given in full.

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...
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]

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Origin

adjective

Borrowed from Latin incrēdulus (“unbelieving”).

Deep Dive

adjective

More examples

Quick test

The scientist was blank— when her colleagues claimed to have found evidence of aliens.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

The scientist was blank when her colleagues claimed to have found evidence of aliens.