incredible

From Middle English incredible, from Latin incrēdibilis (“that cannot be believed”), from in- (“not”) + crēdibilis (“worthy of belief”), from crēdō (“believe”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɪŋˈkɹɛdɪbəl/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (US) enPR: ĭngkrĕ'dəbəl, IPA^(key): /ɪŋˈkɹɛdəbəl/, [ɪ̈ŋˈkɹ̥ʷɛɾəbəɫ], [ɪ̈ŋˈkɹ̥ʷɛɾəbɫ̩]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛdɪbəl

incredible (comparative more incredible, superlative most incredible)

1. (literal) Too implausible to be credible; beyond belief; unbelievable. [from 15th c.]
   • 1955, A. W. Schorger, The Passenger Pigeon: Its Natural History and Extinction, →ISBN, page vii:

     The extinction of a species once so numerous seemed incredible.

   • 1980 September 16, Senator John Glenn, quoted in William A. Schwartz et al., The Nuclear Seduction: Why the Arms Race Doesn’t Matter—And What Does, University of California Press (1990, 1993), →ISBN, page 29:

     I get lost in what is credible and not credible. This whole thing gets so incredible when you consider wiping out whole nations, it is difficult to establish credibility.

   • 1986 June 6, Richard Feynman, “Personal observations on the reliability of the Shuttle”, in Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident, Report to the President:

     The other may be that they sincerely believed it to be true, demonstrating an almost incredible lack of communication between themselves and their working engineers.

   • 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 796:

     He therefore found revealed religion incredible in a literal sense, and, as Bayle had done before him, he radically separated morality from the practice of organized religion.

2. (figurative) Amazing; astonishing; awe-inspiring.

   He was so wrapped up in watching the incredible special effects that he couldn't keep track of the story.

3. (figurative) Marvellous; profoundly affecting; wonderful.

   I had such an incredible slice of pizza last night that I simply can't think about anything else.