credulity
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of credulity
1375–1425; late Middle English credulite < Latin crēdulitās. See credulous, -ity
Explanation
Did you know that if you say credulity ten times fast it starts to sound like orange? If you believe that, then you have a lot of credulity. Credulity means gullibility, or a willingness to believe anything. Credulity is a tendency to believe in things too easily and without evidence. If a swindler is trying to sell you fake medicine, then he is "preying on your credulity." This noun is associated with being naïve, gullible or innocent. It shouldn’t be confused with credibility, which means “believability,” although it is often misused in this way. You might hear someone say, “the farfetched plot of that movie strained credulity,” but what he or she really means is “believability,” or “credibility.”
Vocabulary lists containing credulity
"The Monkey's Paw" by W. W. Jacobs
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"The Monkey's Paw," Vocabulary from the short story
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The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
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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.
The theme of astrology emerged fairly quickly, as Moliere was interested in "denouncing human credulity", Bouffard said.
From Barron's • May 4, 2026
Most of the accounts, such as the Garrison episode, strain credulity.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 29, 2026
The idea that a news report transformed the situation into something uniquely dangerous stretches credulity.
From Salon • Apr. 8, 2026
Our credulity would snap if Mescal’s Shakespeare was the slick talker that his early biographer John Aubrey described as “very good company, of a very redie and pleasant smoothe Witt.”
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 25, 2025
In some way that I couldn’t explain, I knew that his scorn of my childish credulity was right.
From "Grendel" by John Gardner
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.
