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incredulous

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

11 characters

Language

English

word origin

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "incredulous", 11-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Wiktionary, and usage frequency ranked against an open word-frequency list covering the top 100,000 English words. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "incredulous" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "incredulous" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

incredulous is anEnglishadj. It means: Skeptical, disbelieving, or unable to believe. Pronounced /ɪnˈkɹɛdjʊləs/.

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Key facts for incredulous
PropertyValue
Headwordincredulous
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdj
IPA/ɪnˈkɹɛdjʊləs/
Letters11
Frequency rank#36,616
Misspellings tracked16
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of incredulous in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for incredulous is 11 letters long, classified as anadj, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɪnˈkɹɛdjʊləs/. Corpus data places it at rank #36,616 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 16 likely wrong-spelling variants for incredulous, with forms such as "icnredulous", "inccredulous", and "incerdulous". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin incrēdulus (“unbelieving”). Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is incredulous, spelled I-N-C-R-E-D-U-L-O-U-S, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Skeptical, disbelieving, or unable to believe.
  2. 2
    Expressing or indicative of incredulity.
  3. 3
    Difficult to believe; incredible.

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin incrēdulus (“unbelieving”).

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: icnredulous,inccredulous,incerdulous,incrdeulous,increddulous,incredluous,incredullous,incredulosu,incredulouss,increduluos,increduolus,increudlous,incrredulous,inncredulous,inrcedulous,nicredulous

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for incredulous

Misspelling Variants of "incredulous"

icnredulous11inccredulous12incerdulous11incrdeulous11increddulous12incredluous11incredullous12incredulosu11
Misspelling Variants of "incredulous"

Frequency rank: #36,616 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "incredulous"?
"incredulous" is spelled I-N-C-R-E-D-U-L-O-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ɪnˈkɹɛdjʊləs/.
What does "incredulous" mean?
As an adj, "incredulous" means: Skeptical, disbelieving, or unable to believe.
What are common misspellings of "incredulous"?
Common misspellings include "icnredulous", "inccredulous", "incerdulous", "incrdeulous", "increddulous". The correct spelling is "incredulous".
How do you pronounce "incredulous"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "incredulous" is /ɪnˈkɹɛdjʊləs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "incredulous"?
Borrowed from Latin incrēdulus (“unbelieving”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter I in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.