What does incredibility mean?
Incredibility is a formal noun that can refer either to the extraordinary quality of an event or claim, or to a state of unwillingness to believe something surprising. The first sense often highlights how remarkable, implausible, or astonishing something appears: a story may inspire incredulity because its scale or details seem impossible. The second sense focuses on the listener’s or observer’s doubt, as when a claim is met with incredulity or arouses widespread incredulity. Although closely associated with disbelief, incredibility often carries a more formal and emphatic tone than expressions such as 'unbelievable' or 'doubt.' It is especially useful in journalism, historical writing, and formal descriptions of surprising discoveries, extraordinary achievements, or contested claims. Its double emphasis also makes it effective when an event is both astonishing in itself and difficult for people to accept as true.
nounThe quality of being incredible, especially of being too remarkable or unusual to be believed. It can also mean the condition of being unwilling to believe something surprising.
- The quality of being extraordinary, surprising, or seemingly impossible to believe.
- The state or attitude of being unwilling to accept something as true, especially because it seems improbable.
"The scale of the restoration caused widespread incredulity."
"There was widespread incredulity when the researchers announced their findings."
"The sheer incredibility of the discovery made it difficult to think of a practical explanation."
Usually plural in the sense of instances or expressions of disbelief, as in 'the claim was met with incredibilities,' but relatively uncommon.
"The witness's account was met with a series of incredibilities by the court."
Incredibility has a split identity: it can describe the astonishing nature of something, or the very human act of refusing to believe it.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does incredibility come from?
Incredibility comes from Latin incredibilitas, meaning 'unbelievableness' or 'quality of being incredible.' It was formed from incredibilis, the adjective meaning 'not believable' or 'extraordinary,' which developed from incredere, combining in- ('not') with credere ('to believe'). The English adjective incredible and the related adjective incredulous belong to the same Latin family of forms, while credibility also traces to Latin credere.
How incredibility is actually used
The word is formal and often conveys a stronger sense of astonishment or disbelief than the everyday expression 'unbelievable.' In the second sense, it is commonly used with phrases such as 'meet with incredulity' and 'express incredulity.'
Easily confused with incredibility
Incredibility can mean the surprising or unbelievable quality of an event, whereas incredulity more specifically means unwillingness to believe what one has heard or seen.
Incredible is an adjective describing something extraordinary or hard to believe, while incredibility is the noun naming that quality or the state of doubting its truth.