| Library / English Dictionary |
INCREDULITY
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Doubt about the truth of something
Synonyms:
disbelief; incredulity; mental rejection; skepticism
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("incredulity" is a kind of...):
doubt; doubtfulness; dubiety; dubiousness; incertitude; uncertainty (the state of being unsure of something)
Derivation:
incredulous (not disposed or willing to believe; unbelieving)
Context examples:
He had heard my story with that half kind of belief that is given to a tale of spirits and supernatural events; but when he was called upon to act officially in consequence, the whole tide of his incredulity returned.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
She turned towards Lucy in silent amazement, unable to divine the reason or object of such a declaration; and though her complexion varied, she stood firm in incredulity, and felt in no danger of an hysterical fit, or a swoon.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
He even looked at her with a smile of affected incredulity.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
On my remarking that I was constantly in the habit of doing the same thing you expressed incredulity.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The gentleman, however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, opened a pocket-book and took out a note.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Every great discoverer has been met with the same incredulity—the sure brand of a generation of fools.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Her incredulity made her uncomfortable, and failing of other expedient, she said: I know you're hungry, Mart. It's sticking out all over you.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
From the bosom of his robe he then produced a casket, opened it and showed magnificent bracelets and earrings; she acted astonishment and admiration; kneeling, he laid the treasure at her feet; incredulity and delight were expressed by her looks and gestures; the stranger fastened the bracelets on her arms and the rings in her ears.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Elizabeth, still more affected, was earnest and solemn in her reply; and at length, by repeated assurances that Mr. Darcy was really the object of her choice, by explaining the gradual change which her estimation of him had undergone, relating her absolute certainty that his affection was not the work of a day, but had stood the test of many months' suspense, and enumerating with energy all his good qualities, she did conquer her father's incredulity, and reconcile him to the match.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
Having described the genesis of their journey, and paid a handsome tribute to his friend Professor Challenger, coupled with an apology for the incredulity with which his assertions, now fully vindicated, had been received, he gave the actual course of their journey, carefully withholding such information as would aid the public in any attempt to locate this remarkable plateau.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
