unbelievably

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˌʌnbɪˈlivəbli/ UK /ˌʌnbɪˈliːvəbli/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adv
to an extent that is hard to credit; remarkably

The view from the peak was unbelievably beautiful.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adv · to an extent that is hard... incredibly remarkably astonishingly extraordinarily inconceivably amazingly

Opposites

believably credibly plausibly

Word family

Related forms unbelievable believe belief unbelief

Etymology

From unbelievable + -ly. Believe descends from Old English belyfan, geliefan ('to believe, trust'), from Proto-Germanic *galaubjan ('to hold dear, trust'), from the Proto-Indo-European root *leubh- ('to care, desire, love').

un- Old English geliefan Old English *leubh- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# unbelievably

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adv
**IPA (US):** /ˌʌnbɪˈlivəbli/
**IPA (UK):** /ˌʌnbɪˈliːvəbli/

## Meanings
1. to an extent that is hard to credit; remarkably

## Examples
- The view from the peak was unbelievably beautiful.

## Synonyms
- incredibly
- remarkably
- astonishingly
- extraordinarily
- inconceivably
- amazingly

## Antonyms
- believably
- credibly
- plausibly

## Related Forms
- unbelievable
- believe
- belief
- unbelief

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: un-
- Root: geliefan
- Root: *leubh-

## Etymology
From unbelievable + -ly. Believe descends from Old English belyfan, geliefan ('to believe, trust'), from Proto-Germanic *galaubjan ('to hold dear, trust'), from the Proto-Indo-European root *leubh- ('to care, desire, love').

## AI Etymology
Unbelievably comes from unbelievable + -ly. Believe descends from Old English belyfan, geliefan ('to believe, trust'), from Proto-Germanic *galaubjan ('to hold dear, trust'), from the Proto-Indo-European root *leubh- ('to care, desire, love'). The suffix is part of the word's derivational shape, marking the final grammatical or semantic role while the base supplies the central meaning. As an adverb, it means "to an extent that is hard to credit; remarkably", so the modern sense keeps the older action or relation visible. Relevant historical forms include Old English un-, Old English geliefan, and Proto-Indo-European *leubh-. Related words include unbelievable, believe, belief, unbelief.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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