unbelievable

[uhn-bi-lee-vuh-buhl]

adjective

1. too dubious or improbable to be believed.

   an unbelievable excuse.

2. so remarkable as to strain credulity; extraordinary.

   the unbelievable fury of the storm; an unbelievable athlete.

unbelievable

/ ˌʌnbɪˈliːvəbəl /

adjective

1. unable to be believed; incredible or astonishing

Other Word Forms

• unbelievably adverb
• unbelievability noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of unbelievable¹

First recorded in 1540–50; un- ¹ + believe ( def. ) + -able ( def. )

Example Sentences

One member of Badenoch's own frontbench, who closely monitors the mood of the party, texts me bluntly: "She is under unbelievable pressure. This will be her last conference as leader."

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“The way this has all come together is unbelievable,” said Gibson.

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"From the very beginning, when we got the result, we thought it was unbelievable. How could that be so deep into the past?" said Prof Xijun Ni of Fudan University, who co-led the analysis.

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“And I’ve struggled to understand how I could do something like this. But these scammers are smart people and they have you convinced about everything. It’s unbelievable.”

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"They lived through the hardest night of their lives before escaping through a back door. It's unbelievable how quickly the tanks reached the heart of the city."

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Related Words

• astonishing 
• implausible 
• impossible 
• improbable 
• inconceivable 
• incredible 
• outlandish 
• preposterous 
• too much www.thesaurus.com
• unimaginable 
• unthinkable