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View synonyms for credulous

credulous

[ krej-uh-luhs ]

adjective

  1. willing to believe or trust too readily, especially without proper or adequate evidence; gullible.

    Synonyms: unsuspecting, trustful

  2. marked by or arising from credulity:

    a credulous rumor.



credulous

/ ˈkrɛdjʊləs /

adjective

  1. tending to believe something on little evidence
  2. arising from or characterized by credulity

    credulous beliefs

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Derived Forms

  • ˈcredulously, adverb
  • ˈcredulousness, noun
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Other Words From

  • credu·lous·ly adverb
  • credu·lous·ness noun
  • non·credu·lous adjective
  • non·credu·lous·ly adverb
  • non·credu·lous·ness noun
  • over·credu·lous adjective
  • over·credu·lous·ly adverb
  • over·credu·lous·ness noun
  • un·credu·lous adjective
  • un·credu·lous·ly adverb
  • un·credu·lous·ness noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of credulous1

First recorded in 1570–80; from Latin crēdulus, equivalent to crēdere “to believe” + -ulus adjective suffix denoting a quality or tendency; -ous
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Word History and Origins

Origin of credulous1

C16: from Latin crēdulus, from crēdere to believe
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Example Sentences

A steady parade of other headlines, some more credulous than others, followed.

Jones made a career out of deception — hawking hoaxes and phony cures to the credulous for decades.

In the meantime, these propagandists profited as the harms from industries they were protecting were passed onto an unsuspecting and credulous public.

From Time

You’d have to be very credulous to believe that the unexpected triumphs of runners like Gebre and Tilahun weren’t at all a factor when NYRR decided to sever its elite men’s start from Wave 1.

Now, intelligence officials and lawmakers are all but begging Americans to be less credulous with what they see and hear online amid new allegations that actors from Iran emailed individual voter-intimidation efforts.

But instead of fighting the trend, too many of us simply capitulate—lazy, credulous fools that we are.

It is bad enough when credulous but healthy people buy worthless cleanse kits and eat too much kale.

And another story today at the Jewish Press, under a credulous headline, admitted the story might not be right in its lede.

No major right-wing media figures ever speak out against the widespread practice of constantly bilking credulous old people.

The two stories “were a little bit credulous about who this guy they had on the phone was.”

They emanated from a credulous and superstitious people in an unscientific age and country.

Seriously, my dear Boulingrin, that there are moments when I wonder which of us two is the more credulous in respect of fairies.

Paterson buried his wife in that soil which, as he had assured his too credulous countrymen, exhaled health and vigour.

It was once the fashion to speak of Herodotus as a credulous man, who embodied the most improbable though interesting stories.

Others, more timid or less credulous, hesitated in believing those marvels.

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