incredulously
Americanadverb
-
in a way that indicates or shows disbelief.
He looked incredulously at the lime jello embedded with tuna and mini marshmallows and asked, "Do people actually eat that?"
-
to a degree that is very difficult to believe; incredibly.
And then the defendant made a statement that was so incredulously stupid I had to laugh.
Usage
Are incredulously and incredibly synonyms? See incredibly ( def. ).
Etymology
Origin of incredulously
First recorded in 1800–10; incredulous ( def. ) + -ly ( def. )
Explanation
If you do something incredulously, you're doing it in a doubting or disbelieving way. If you look at someone incredulously, you can't believe what they're saying or doing. Incredulously is a word that has to do with disbelief — it's a way of looking at someone or talking to someone like you just can't believe what's going on. If your teacher suddenly started quacking like a duck, the class would look at him incredulously. When a student gives the wrong answer to an easy question, the teacher might incredulously say, "What?" If you're feeling incredulous (disbelieving), then you're probably acting incredulously.
Vocabulary lists containing incredulously
The Crucible
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"The Great Gatsby," Chapter 1 Vocabulary
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A Doll's House
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Incredulously, Australia’s own guidance to its citizens on Cambodia, published by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, contradicts much of what the government is saying to refugees on Nauru.
From Time • May 5, 2015
Incredulously, it threatened to charge its guests $500 for each negative review they posted online.
From Forbes • Aug. 4, 2014
Incredulously they complied, only to see the man pop up to join them through a hole in the floor by moving a few floorboards.
From The Guardian • Jul. 11, 2013
Incredulously, she asked exactly when the incident took place, and told me that he might have been staying with her in Santa Cruz at the time he gave me the package.
From Salon • May 1, 2013
Incredulously, I detected mirth in his voice, and sure enough he started to laugh, cueing the others.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
