incredible

See also: incrédible

English

Etymology

From Middle English incredible, from Latin incrēdibilis (“that cannot be believed”), from in- (“not”) + crēdibilis (“worthy of belief”), from crēdō (“believe”).

Pronunciation

• (US) enPR: ĭngkrĕ'dəbəl, IPA^(key): /ɪŋˈkɹɛdəbəl/, [ɪ̈ŋˈkɹ̥ʷɛɾəbəɫ], [ɪ̈ŋˈkɹ̥ʷɛɾəbɫ̩]
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɪŋˈkɹɛdɪbəl/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛdɪbəl

Adjective

incredible (comparative more incredible, superlative most incredible)

1. (literally) Too implausible to be credible; beyond belief; unbelievable. [from 15th c.]
   • 1955, A. W. Schorger, The Passenger Pigeon: Its Natural History and Extinction, →ISBN, page vii:

     The extinction of a species once so numerous seemed incredible.

   • 1980 September 16, Senator John Glenn, quoted in William A. Schwartz et al., The Nuclear Seduction: Why the Arms Race Doesn’t Matter—And What Does, University of California Press (1990, 1993), →ISBN, page 29:

     I get lost in what is credible and not credible. This whole thing gets so incredible when you consider wiping out whole nations, it is difficult to establish credibility.

   • 1986 June 6, Richard Feynman, “Personal observations on the reliability of the Shuttle”, in Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident, Report to the President:

     The other may be that they sincerely believed it to be true, demonstrating an almost incredible lack of communication between themselves and their working engineers.

   • 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 796:

     He therefore found revealed religion incredible in a literal sense, and, as Bayle had done before him, he radically separated morality from the practice of organized religion.

2. (figurative) Amazing; astonishing; awe-inspiring.

   He was so wrapped up in watching the incredible special effects that he couldn't keep track of the story.

3. (figurative) Marvellous; profoundly affecting; wonderful.

   I had such an incredible slice of pizza last night that I simply can't think about anything else.

Synonyms

• unbelievable

 

Antonyms

• credible

 

Derived terms

• incredibility
• incredibleness

 

Related terms

• credibility
• creed
• incredibility
• incredibly

 

Translations

too implausible to be credible

• Asturian: increyible, increíble
• Azerbaijani: ağlabatmaz, ağlasığmaz, inanılmaz
• Belarusian: неймаве́рны (njejmavjérny), невераго́дны (be) (njevjerahódny)
• Bulgarian: невероя́тен (bg) (neverojáten)
• Catalan: increïble (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 難以置信／难以置信 (zh) (nányǐzhìxìn)

• Czech: neuvěřitelný (cs) m
• Dutch: ongelofelijk (nl)
• Esperanto: nekredebla (eo)
• Finnish: uskomaton (fi), epäuskottava (fi)
• French: incroyable (fr)
• Galician: incrible (gl), incríbel (gl)
• Georgian: დაუჯერებელი (dauǯerebeli)
• German: unglaubhaft, unglaublich (de)
• Greek: απίστευτος (el) (apísteftos)
• Irish: dochreidte
• Italian: incredibile (it)
• Japanese: ありえない (arienai), 飛躍しすぎている (hiyaku shisugite iru), 信じられない (shinjirarenai)
• Latin: incrēdibilis (la)
• Macedonian: неверојатен (neverojaten)
• Manx: neuchredjallagh, anchredjallagh
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: utrolig, utrulig

  Nynorsk: utruleg, utrulig

• Occitan: incredible (oc)
• Plautdietsch: onjleeflich
• Polish: niewiarygodny (pl)
• Portuguese: inacreditável (pt), incredível
• Romanian: incredibil (ro)
• Russian: невероя́тный (ru) (neverojátnyj), неимове́рный (ru) (neimovérnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: невjероjатан, невероjатан, невjероватан, невероватан

  Roman: nevjerojatan (sh), neverojatan, nevjerovatan, neverovatan (sh)

• Slovak: neuveriteľný
• Slovene: neverjeten
• Spanish: increíble (es)
• Swedish: otrolig (sv)
• Turkish: inanılmaz (tr)
• Ukrainian: неймові́рний (nejmovírnyj)
• Vietnamese: khó tin
• Welsh: anhygoel

amazing

• Bulgarian: поразителен (bg) (porazitelen)
• Catalan: increïble (ca)
• Dutch: ongelofelijk (nl)
• Esperanto: eksterodinara
• Finnish: uskomaton (fi)
• French: incroyable (fr)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: erstaunlich (de), verblüffend (de), verwunderlich (de)
• Greek: απίστευτος (el) m (apísteftos)
• Irish: dochreidte
• Italian: incredibile (it)
• Japanese: 驚異的な (ja) (kyōiteki na)
• Latin: incrēdibilis (la)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: utrolig, utrulig

  Nynorsk: utruleg, utrulig

• Portuguese: incrível (pt)
• Romanian: incredibil (ro)
• Russian: потряса́ющий (ru) (potrjasájuščij), потря́сный (ru) (potrjásnyj), изуми́тельный (ru) (izumítelʹnyj), порази́тельный (ru) (porazítelʹnyj), ошеломи́тельный (ru) (ošelomítelʹnyj)
• Spanish: increíble (es)
• Swedish: otrolig (sv)
• Turkish: şaşırtıcı (tr)

marvellous

• Bulgarian: чудесен (bg) (čudesen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 驚人的／惊人的 (zh) (jīngrén de), 了不起 (zh) (liǎobùqǐ)

• Esperanto: mirinda
• Finnish: uskomaton (fi)
• French: incroyable (fr)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: fabelhaft (de), herrlich (de), wunderbar (de)
• Irish: dochreidte
• Japanese: 素晴らしい (ja) (subarashii)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: utrolig, utrulig, fantastisk (no)

  Nynorsk: utruleg, utrulig, fantastisk

• Portuguese: incrível (pt)
• Romanian: incredibil (ro)
• Russian: потряса́ющий (ru) (potrjasájuščij), потря́сный (ru) (potrjásnyj), изуми́тельный (ru) (izumítelʹnyj), порази́тельный (ru) (porazítelʹnyj), ошеломи́тельный (ru) (ošelomítelʹnyj), чуде́сный (ru) (čudésnyj), удиви́тельный (ru) (udivítelʹnyj), неимове́рный (ru) (neimovérnyj)
• Spanish: maravilloso (es), increíble (es)
• Turkish: fevkalade (tr), olağanüstü (tr)
• Ukrainian: неймові́рний (nejmovírnyj)