Dictionary

incredulity en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˌɪnkɹɪˈdjuːlɪti/

Etymology

Attested since 1430. From Middle English incredulite, from Old French incredulité, from Late Latin incredulitas, from Latin incredulus (“unbelieving”) + -itas (“-ity”), equivalent to incredulous + -ity.

Meanings

1. (uncountable, usually) Unwillingness or inability to believe; doubt about the truth or verisimilitude of something; disbelief.
   • Wide went her eyes in wonder and incredulity, as she beheld this seeming apparition risen from the dead. 1916, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter 24, in Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar:
   • At any other time Jessamy would have laughed at the expressions that chased each other over his freckled face: crossness left over from his struggle with the baby; incredulity; distress; and finally delight. 1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, →ISBN, page 122:
   • It was a casual sneer, obviously one of a long line. There was hatred behind it, but of a quiet, chronic type, nothing new or unduly virulent, and he was taken aback by the flicker of amazed incredulity that passed over the younger man's ravaged face. 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 8, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
2. (rare, uncountable, usually) Religious disbelief; lack of faith.

Forms

Antonyms

credulity

Relateds

incredulous · incredibility

Synonyms

incredulousness · incredulosity

Translations (32)

ru недове́рие (unwillingness to believe; doubt about the truth of something) · fr incrédulité (unwillingness to believe; doubt about the truth of something) · es incredulidad (unwillingness to believe; doubt about the truth of something) · nb vantro (religious disbelief) · nl ongelovigheid (religious disbelief) · sv klentrogenhet (unwillingness to believe; doubt about the truth of something) · es incredulidad (religious disbelief) · la incredulitas (unwillingness to believe; doubt about the truth of something) · mi whakapono tūpato (unwillingness to believe; doubt about the truth of something) · ro necredință (religious disbelief) · bg недоверчивост (unwillingness to believe; doubt about the truth of something) · fi epäilys (unwillingness to believe; doubt about the truth of something) · ru недове́рчивость (unwillingness to believe; doubt about the truth of something) · fi epäusko (unwillingness to believe; doubt about the truth of something) · de Ungläubigkeit (unwillingness to believe; doubt about the truth of something) · ota كفر (unwillingness to believe; doubt about the truth of something) · el δυσπιστία (unwillingness to believe; doubt about the truth of something) · sv misstrogenhet (unwillingness to believe; doubt about the truth of something) · nl ongeloof (unwillingness to believe; doubt about the truth of something) · ro scepticism (unwillingness to believe; doubt about the truth of something) · ro incredulitate (unwillingness to believe; doubt about the truth of something) · fi epäusko (religious disbelief) · pt incredulidade (unwillingness to believe; doubt about the truth of something) · gl incredulidade (unwillingness to believe; doubt about the truth of something) · ota كفر (religious disbelief) · bg неверие (religious disbelief) · ru неве́рие (religious disbelief) · fr incrédulité (religious disbelief) · pt incredulidade (religious disbelief) · de Ungläubigkeit (religious disbelief) · gl incredulidade (religious disbelief) · nb mistro (unwillingness to believe; doubt about the truth of something)