different between incredulous vs doubtfull

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin incr?dulus (“unbelieving”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?n?k??dj?l?s/
• IPA^(key): /??n.?kr?.d??.l?s/

Adjective

incredulous (comparative more incredulous, superlative most incredulous)

1. Skeptical, disbelieving, or unable to believe. [from 16th c.]
2. Expressing or indicative of incredulity. [from 17th c.]
   • 2009, Reuters (03-18-2009) , “Sun Micro Troops Fearful, Incredulous About IBM”, in Wired.com?^[1], archived from the original on 30 June 2013, retrieved 14 June 2009

     Reactions at Sun's campus, an hour's drive from San Francisco, ranged from the fearful to the incredulous.

3. (largely obsolete, now only nonstandard) Difficult to believe; incredible. [from 17th c.]
   • 1601, William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, III.4:

     Why euery thing adheres togither, that no dramme of a scruple, no scruple of a scruple, no obstacle, no incredulous or vnsafe circumstance [...].

   • 1984, Supreme Court of Illinois, opinion in People v Terrell, 459 N.E.2d 1337,^[2] quoted in David C. Brody, James R. Acker, and Wayne A. Logan, Criminal Law,^[3] Jones & Bartlett Publishers (2001), ?ISBN, page 564,

     Faced with these facts, we find it incredulous that [the] defendant had any intent other than the armed robbery of the service station.

Derived terms

• incredulously

Related terms

• incredulity
• credulous

Translations

English

Adjective

doubtfull (comparative more doubtfull, superlative most doubtfull)

1. Archaic form of doubtful.