incredulous

English

Etymology

From Latin incredulus (“unbelieving”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ɪnˈkɹɛdjʊləs/

Adjective

incredulous (comparative more incredulous, superlative most incredulous)

1. Skeptical, disbelieving, or unable to believe. [from 16th c.]
   • 1918, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Gods of Mars, Chapter 13

     Xodar listened in incredulous astonishment to my narration of the events which had transpired within the arena at the rites of Issus.

2. Expressing or indicative of incredulity. [from 17th c.]
   • 2009, Reuters (03-18-2009), "Sun Micro Troops Fearful, Incredulous About IBM", Wired.com.

     Reactions at Sun's campus, an hour's drive from San Francisco, ranged from the fearful to the incredulous.

3. (obsolete, except as nonstandard) Difficult to believe; incredible. [from 17th c.]
   • 1601, William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, III.4:

     Why euery thing adheres togither, that no dramme of a scruple, no scruple of a scruple, no obstacle, no incredulous or vnsafe circumstance [...].

   • 1984, Supreme Court of Illinois, opinion in People v Terrell, 459 N.E.2d 1337,^[1] quoted in David C. Brody, James R. Acker, and Wayne A. Logan, Criminal Law,^[2] Jones & Bartlett Publishers (2001), ISBN 0-8342-1083-5, page 564,

     Faced with these facts, we find it incredulous that [the] defendant had any intent other than the armed robbery of the service station.

Derived terms

• incredulously

Related terms

• incredulity
• credulous

Translations

Skeptical, disbelieving

• Catalan: incrèdul (ca)
• Czech: nevěřící (cs)
• Finnish: epäilevä (fi), epäuskoinen (fi), skeptinen (fi)
• German: ungläubig (de), skeptisch (de)

• Russian: скептичный (ru) (skeptičnyj), недоверчивый (ru) (nedovérčivyj)
• Spanish: incrédulo (es)
• Swedish: misstrogen (sv), skeptisk (sv)

difficult to believe; incredible

• Czech: neuvěřitelný (cs)
• Russian: невероятный (ru) (neverojátnyj)

• Swedish: otrolig (sv)