credulous

adjective

cred·u·lous ˈkre-jə-ləs

Synonyms of credulous next

: ready to believe especially on slight or uncertain evidence

accused of swindling credulous investors

Few people are credulous enough to believe such nonsense.

: proceeding from credulity

credulous superstitions

credulously adverb

credulousness noun

Did you know?

The cred in credulous is from Latin credere, meaning “to believe” or “to trust.” Credulous describes people who would be wise to be a bit more skeptical, or things that ought to be approached with some skepticism. The word has a useful opposite in the term incredulous, which often describes something that shows or suggests one’s lack of belief (“listening with an incredulous smile”), or someone who cannot or will not believe something, as in “an outrageous statement that left them incredulous.” (You’ll do well not to confuse incredulous with incredible.)

Examples of credulous in a Sentence

Few people are credulous enough to believe such nonsense.

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Such pronouncements have often elicited credulous reactions from Musk’s interviewers. —

Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2024 His reflexive tendency to extend Lindsay the benefit of the doubt seemed both credulous and entirely rational. —

Eren Orbey, The New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2024 Nothing about the man, his music preeminently, flattered the worldview of the credulous teenager. —

Stephen Metcalf, The Atlantic, 17 Sep. 2024 This, in 2024, is as absurd as subscribing to the credulous spin that Trump’s near-death encounter with a would-be assassin’s bullet had remade him into a unity candidate for the ages. —

Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, 1 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for credulous