incredulous
adjective
Can incredulous mean 'incredible'?: Usage Guide
Sense 3 was revived in the 20th century after a couple of centuries of disuse. Although it is a sense with good literary precedent—among others Shakespeare used it—it is widely regarded as an error resulting from confusion with incredible, and its occurrence in published writing is rare.
Synonyms
Examples of incredulous in a Sentence
Bill Bryson, I'm a Stranger Here Myself, 1999
A tweed-encased fogey, he's allergic to technology, persnickety about language, and incredulous that anyone could object to his incessant smoking.
—John Powers, Vogue, March 1998
He was greeted with incredulous laughter.
—Robert M. Hutchins, Center Magazine, September 1968
… no obstacle, no incredulous or unsafe circumstance …
—William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, 1602
She listened to his explanation with an incredulous smile.
He was incredulous at the news.
Many people were incredulous that such a small fire could have caused so much damage.
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Shawna Seed, Dallas News, 12 Sep. 2023
Nell, the youngest and an aspiring actress, is incredulous that her mother had so many lucky breaks yet gave it all up.
—Priscilla Gilman, BostonGlobe.com, 3 Aug. 2023
The former Alabama All-American wasn’t the only one incredulous about Cook’s release, which followed three of the NFL’s best running backs being prevented from entering free agency in March – not by contract extensions but by the franchise tag.
—Mark Inabinett | Minabinett@al.com, al, 19 June 2023
Coach Bruce Arena and the Revolution were incredulous when Carles Gil was not among the 26 players named to the MLS All-Star team last month.
—Greg McKenna, BostonGlobe.com, 7 July 2023
What not to do Commenters on my last column seemed incredulous that even a new adult would need to be told to dress conservatively and use formal language in work emails.
—Karla L. Miller, Washington Post, 29 June 2023
The former president had sounded incredulous for months that his onetime acolyte would challenge him.
—Michael C. Bender, New York Times, 18 Apr. 2023
Udo-Ema still is incredulous at the concern, saying that those who equate toughness with outward emotion have missed the point.
—Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2022
Why he’s become such an incredulous, vocal critic of these kinds of things on the App Store is because, as he’s explained via Twitter, zeroing in on these scammy, shady apps is not that difficult.
—Andy Meek, BGR, 20 Apr. 2021
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'incredulous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Latin incredulus, from in- + credulus credulous
1579, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Dictionary Entries Near incredulous
Cite this Entry
“Incredulous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incredulous. Accessed 25 Sep. 2023.
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Kids Definition
incredulous
adjective
More from Merriam-Webster on incredulous
Nglish: Translation of incredulous for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of incredulous for Arabic Speakers
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