credulous
7
8.3
- adjective
- /ˈkrɛdʒələs/
:
creduloso
- He was too credulous to question the scam artist's promises of quick riches.
And Clotilda, who seems rather credulous, says great idea.
- And Clotilda, who seems rather credulous, says great idea.
- Naivete, gullibility is trusting people in a credulous, unthinking way.
- What is it that makes somebody more credulous of them than than not?
- And whether it's because of the speed of social media or the lives we lead or the credulous nature of human beings, I don't know.
- But some people are there because they're credulous of it.
Examples
-
I'm no child nor credulous old man.
-
Evans traces his lifelong interest in astronomy and space travel to a childhood fascination with completely credulous books about UFOs.
Academic text (1995) -
"The press must be extremely credulous to believe that the attacks are the result of that movie."
Blog text (20) -
- I never thought you were so credulous.
-
Very smart people are often the most credulous and are taken in by all kinds of phenomena.
-
We're believers, not simply credulous.
-
I was actually surprised no credulous individuals started whining at that one.
Blog text (13) -
And whether it's because of the speed of social media or the lives we lead or the credulous nature of human beings, I don't know.
-
Why would God hide miracles from scientists but only reveal them to his credulous flock?
Blog text (4) -
Hours later, the New York Times front page offered a credulous gloss for the end of "the seven-year American combat mission in Iraq."
Academic text (2010)
Synonyms
65
4.2
Easily persuaded to believe things that are not true
1
9.9
Quick to believe things without much proof
A person who believes things too easily
Ready to believe things and not likely to doubt them
Antonyms
208
6.5
Not trusting people to have good intentions and expecting them to act for themselves
How Gullible
Surface Forms
Morphology
credulous = credul + ous
Built from the bound root 'credul' (related to 'believe') plus the productive adjective suffix '-ous'; because the root is not a standalone English word, the connection may not be fully obvious to average learners.
Etymology
Credulous comes from the Latin root cred- meaning 'believe', the same root you see in credit. So a credulous person 'gives belief' too easily, which is why they can be easily tricked.