credulity
12
8.1
- noun
- /krɪˈdjuːləti/
- Formal
:
credulidad
- Her credulity made her believe every gossip she heard without questioning it.
- strain credulity
- credulity and superstition
That sort of strains credulity in my mind.
- That sort of strains credulity in my mind.
- And he says that fairy tales shouldn't just trade on children's credulity or the lack of experience.
- What these news outlets did, running with the lies of Hamas terrorists with, with absolute total credulity is unacceptable.
Examples
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The politician's promises tested the credulity of even his most loyal supporters.
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And he says that fairy tales shouldn't just trade on children's credulity or the lack of experience.
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Spoke of it with wide eyes, with the credulity saved for miracles.
Fiction book (2000) -
His voice alone seemed to inspire absolute credulity.
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That sort of strains credulity in my mind.
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If we are indeed in an age of credulity, it is a melancholy time for me.
Blog text (3) -
"Baby would be in the house only this winter," I say, testing Nina's credulity.
Fiction book (1990) -
Look, I understand that some of this might seem to stretch credulity, but, remember, big, new scientific ideas are always greeted with some resistance.
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Satire lies in crossing that commonly held sense of credulity that supposedly exists within all of us.
Blog text (3) -
I will say that for him; he has a great sensitivity to the weaknesses and credulities of men.
Fiction book (1990)
Synonyms
5
7.7
Believing things too easily and getting tricked
1
8.9
A tendency to believe things too easily so people can trick you
Being too ready to believe things without proof
Antonyms
How Gullible
Surface Forms
Morphology
credulity = credulous (semi-transparent) = credul + ity
The noun is a regular derivation from the adjective 'credulous' with the suffix '-ity', but the base and root are Latinate and low-frequency, so the relation may not be obvious to average learners.
Etymology
The word credulity comes from the root cred, which means 'to believe' and appears in English words like credit and credible. So, credulity is the habit of 'believing' things too easily or too quickly, which makes someone an easy target for tricks or scams.