incredibility

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ɪnˌkrɛdəˈbɪləti/ UK /ɪnˌkrɛdəˈbɪləti/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
the quality of being too implausible to be believed

The sheer incredibility of his alibi undid him in court.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the quality of being too... implausibilityunbelievabilityimprobability incredibleness

Opposites

credibility plausibility believability

Word family

Related forms incredible credibility credible credit

Etymology

From incredible + -ity; from Latin incredibilis, from in- ('not') + credibilis ('believable'), from credere ('to believe, trust').

credere Latin *ḱred-dʰeh₁- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

# incredibility

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ɪnˌkrɛdəˈbɪləti
**IPA (UK):** ɪnˌkrɛdəˈbɪləti

## Meanings
1. the quality of being too implausible to be believed

## Examples
- The sheer incredibility of his alibi undid him in court.

## Synonyms
- implausibility
- unbelievability
- improbability
- incredibleness

## Antonyms
- credibility
- plausibility
- believability

## Related Forms
- incredible
- credibility
- credible
- credit

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: credere
- Root: *ḱred-dʰeh₁-

## Etymology
From incredible + -ity; from Latin incredibilis, from in- ('not') + credibilis ('believable'), from credere ('to believe, trust').

## AI Etymology
incredibility comes from incredible + -ity; from Latin incredibilis, from in- ('not') + credibilis ('believable'), from credere ('to believe, trust'). Morphologically, the ending is part of the etymology: the suffix is attached to the older base named in the history, producing a later English derivative. In present English, the noun sense is "the quality of being too implausible to be believed", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also appears in related forms such as incredible, credibility, credible, and credit. Its semantic neighborhood includes implausibility, unbelievability, improbability, and incredibleness, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim. The named historical forms include Latin credere and Proto-Indo-European *ḱred-dʰeh₁-.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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