unbelieving

American  

[uhn-bi-lee-ving] / ˌʌn bɪˈli vɪŋ /

adjective

1. not believing; skeptical.

   Synonyms:

   incredulous, questioning

2. not accepting any, or some particular, religious belief.

---

unbelieving British  

/ ˌʌnbɪˈliːvɪŋ /

adjective

1. not believing; sceptical

2. proceeding from or characterized by scepticism

---

Other Word Forms

• unbelievingness
  noun
• unbelievingly
  adverb

---

Etymology

Origin of unbelieving

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; see un- ¹, believe ( def. ), -ing ² ( def. )

---

Explanation

A person who's unbelieving denies or doubts the truth of something. Your religious grandmother might invite her unbelieving friend to come with her to church. Being unbelieving often has to do with a lack of religious beliefs. Another way to be unbelieving is to be incredulous, or astonished by something — so amazed that you can't believe what you're seeing or experiencing. The best part about performing magic tricks for little kids is the unbelieving expressions on their faces when they see a rabbit appear in a hat or a bouquet of flowers suddenly vanish.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

unbelieving

Mitchell started to swing, checked it, then stood unbelieving as umpire Babe Pinelli, working behind the plate for the last time before retirement, called strike three.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 1, 2020

The unbelieving Hansen put the banana in Lietzke’s golf bag as a test, only to discover the rotten fruit still there in January.

From Washington Times ● Jul. 28, 2018

Her lawyer sent her the judgment in an email and she printed it out, almost unbelieving.

From New York Times ● May 11, 2018

At first they were unbelieving: “Are you sure?”

From Washington Post ● Mar. 18, 2017

For a moment, it didn’t occur to The Goober who Roland Goubert was—he watched, fascinated, unbelieving.

From "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---