It’s a case of believability with incredible versus incredulous.
Incredible means that when we experience something incredible, we find it hard to believe because it’s so amazing. It’s usually applied to a thing.
Incredulous is about a state of astonishment or disbelief which we are unwilling to believe. It’s usually applied to a person or their attitude: You shouldn’t be surprised that I’m incredulous after all your lies.
Word Confusions . . .
. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noir for you from either end.
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| Incredible | Incredulous |
|---|---|
Taj Mahal, Agra, India, is Richa321‘s own work is under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — Such an incredible building. |
Stop the Steal by meandcolors is under the Pixabay License, via Pixabay. — It’s incredulous how many people actually believe this. |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Adjective | Adjective |
| Impossible to believe
Difficult to believe
|
[Of a person or their manner] Unwilling or unable to believe something |
| Examples: | |
| It was an almost incredible tale of triumph and tragedy.
The noise from the crowd was incredible. His speed was incredible. I was mesmerized: She looked so incredible. The plot of the book is incredible. |
He heard an incredulous gasp.
She had an incredulous smile. On relaying this story some five hours later to my wife who is from Thailand, she was incredulous. We were incredulous that such deep divisions were apparent in a profession that should be working together. The essence of the audience’s rising ire was bluntly summarized in an incredulous question from the floor. They’ve been dealing with incredulous questions from the press and public ever since. |
| Derivatives: | |
| Adverb: incredibly Noun: incredibility, incredibleness |
Adverb: incredulously Noun: incredulousness |
| History of the Word: | |
| Late Middle English from the Latin incredibilis, from in- (not) + credibilis, from credere meaning believe. | The 16th century from the Latin incredulus, from in- (not) + credulus (believing, trusting), from credere (believe) + -ous. |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Resources for Incredible versus Incredulous
Apple Dictionary.com
Dictionary.com: incredible
Lexico.com: incredulous
Pinterest Photo Credits:
The Monastery, a.k.a. Al Dier, Petra, Jordan, by Dennis Jarvis is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, via Flickr. Text from amendment one of the US Constitution is courtesy of the United States Senate.
