incredibly

American  

[in-kred-uh-blee] / ɪnˈkrɛd ə bli /

adverb

1. in a way that is extraordinary, seemingly impossible, or difficult to believe; incredulously.

   Incredibly, we have already raised $750.

2. very; extremely.

   Your hair will be left incredibly soft, supple, and shiny.

   I found the incredibly uncomfortable seats a real distraction—tall people beware.

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Usage

Incredibly and, somewhat less commonly, incredulously can both be used to mean “unbelievably,” as in It was an incredulously/incredibly expensive flight. They both share the roots of in, meaning “not,” and crēdere, meaning “to believe,” so this shared meaning of “not able to be believed” is rooted in their etymology. Beware, however: they both also have other senses that are not synonyms. Incredibly can mean “very” or “extremely,” but incredulously is not used that way: This is an incredibly exciting moment for me. Incredulously can mean “disbelievingly,” but incredibly is not used that way: She stared at the painting incredulously, skeptical of its veracity .

Etymology

Origin of incredibly

First recorded in 1500–10; incredib(le) ( def. ) + -ly ( def. )

Explanation

You can use the adverb incredibly to mean "extremely," like your best friend's incredibly disturbing Halloween costume. The word incredibly describes anything that is so fantastic, you almost doubt it's real. You might describe an incredibly fast runner or your incredibly strange French teacher. Incredibly can also describe amazement, like incredibly, someone returned your missing wallet, with everything still in it. The Latin root is incredibilis, "that cannot be believed."

Example Sentences

Beta wasn’t an expert in any of the subjects that he had to master in order to write this book, and yet he dives incredibly deep whenever it is called for.

From Salon • Apr. 14, 2026

Met Police Cdr Andy Featherstone said: "Hate crime, of any kind, has no place in our communities and we take all reports incredibly seriously."

From BBC • Apr. 10, 2026

“Going through nine months of accusations to a trial is incredibly stressful and will take years off your life, and John shouldn’t have gone through that.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026

“The ability to say a memo or a piece of analysis talked about something in a certain way, but that doesn’t correspond or isn’t supported by the underlying data, is incredibly powerful,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

His eyes flashed at me and suddenly my sneakers looked incredibly fascinating.

From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia

Related Words

• especially
• fabulously
• strangely
• uncommonly