INCREDULOUS

adjective Etymology: Latin incredulus, from in- + credulus credulous Date: 1579 unwilling to admit or accept what is offered as true ; not credulous ; skeptical , incredible 1, expressing incredulity , ~ly adverb Usage: Sense 2 was revived in the 20th century after a couple of centuries of disuse. Although it is a sense with good literary precedent—among others Shakespeare used it—many people think it is a result of confusion with incredible, which is still the usual word in this sense.