All words

incredulous

Meaning

Displaying or characterized by an inability to believe something; showing skepticism.

Examples by difficulty

Basic: Simple, everyday vocabulary — the easiest to read.

She stared at the winning lottery ticket, her eyes wide. "This can't be real," she whispered, her voice full of an incredulous disbelief. Winning that much money seemed impossible, beyond anything she had ever imagined.

She stared at the tiny, self-folding origami dog. Her eyebrows shot up, a look of sheer disbelief crossing her face. She was incredulous; the paper dog twitched its nose and scampered under the sofa.

She stared at the glowing orb in her hand, her brow furrowed. It hummed with an unknown energy. Her eyes widened, an incredulous look spreading across her face. No one had ever found one of these before.

Barnaby stared at the dog wearing a tiny top hat, looking truly incredulous. He blinked. The dog winked back. Barnaby rubbed his eyes, convinced he was seeing things. Was this a dream? Nope, just a very fancy poodle about to perform opera.

Barnaby stared at the talking badger, his mouth hanging open, completely incredulous. The badger, wearing a tiny bowler hat, explained the complex politics of acorn distribution. Barnaby, whose most exciting event that day had been a rogue pigeon stealing his sandwich, couldn't fathom a badger with such detailed opinions on woodland finance.

Normal: Standard, everyday language.

He stared at the winning lottery ticket, his mouth hanging open. "No way," he stammered, a wave of incredulous disbelief washing over him. He checked the numbers again, shaking his head, utterly unable to accept his impossible luck.

When the alien said its species communicated by vibrating their exoskeletons, the entomologist looked incredulous, her brow furrowed. She’d spent decades studying insect communication, and the idea of sonic exoskeletal resonance was simply too farfetched to accept.

The astronomer stared at the spectral analysis, his face a mask of incredulous disbelief. The readings clearly indicated a unique isotope of silicon previously only theorized to exist within neutron star crusts, now detected in a terrestrial meteorite.

Brenda stared at her lottery ticket, utterly incredulous. Thirty million dollars? She reread the numbers, then looked at the scratch-off section, half-expecting a tiny picture of a unicorn to appear. Her cat, Bartholomew, yawned, clearly unimpressed with her sudden wealth.

Barnaby stared at the squirrel wearing a tiny sombrero, its bushy tail twitching with what he could only describe as impish glee. He blinked, then squinted, his expression utterly incredulous. Was it... was it genuinely salsa dancing to the distant mariachi music?

Advanced: Richer vocabulary that stretches an upper-level reader.

Sarah stared at the lottery ticket, her mouth agape. Millions! The numbers swam before her eyes, each digit a confirmation of an impossible reality. Her expression was incredulous, a perfect picture of someone struggling to accept such astounding good fortune.

When the antique dealer revealed the chipped porcelain figurine was actually a genuine Ming Dynasty artifact, my face contorted into an incredulous expression. He gestured to the faded script on its base, a silent challenge to my skepticism.

The explorer, after weeks in the desert, stared at the shimmering oasis. He'd seen mirages before, but this one was too persistent, too detailed. A faint smile touched his lips, an incredulous acceptance dawning as a camel knelt at its edge.

Bartholomew stared, absolutely incredulous, as his pet hamster, Reginald, juggled three miniature donuts. He'd always suspected Reginald had hidden talents beyond pilfering sunflower seeds, but this feat of dexterity and questionable pastry consumption left him utterly dumbfounded, questioning his very sanity.

Barnaby eyed the artisanal cheese shaped like a badger, his expression incredulous. He’d heard tales of sentient dairy, but seeing it gnaw on a miniature baguette was a spectacle that defied his rational senses. Was this fromage truly a rodent imposter?

Challenging: Rare, high-register vocabulary for serious word lovers.

Upon hearing her colleague claim he’d finished the entire project overnight, Sarah stared, incredulous. Her eyebrows shot up; the assertion was so implausible, she could scarcely credit it, her skepticism palpable as she mentally reviewed the project's intricate stipulations.

Barnaby stared at the bioluminescent fungal bloom pulsing with impossible colors, his expression utterly incredulous. He'd spent years cataloging subterranean flora; nothing in his extensive research prepared him for this ostentatious, alien luminescence that defied all known biological principles.

The prospector, his face etched with years of fruitless searching, remained incredulous when the surveyor pointed to a vein of pure, unadulterated platinum glittering in the canyon wall. He’d seen mirages before, phantoms conjured by sun and desperation, but this tangible gleam defied his ingrained skepticism.

Bartholomew gazed at the squirrel juggling flaming acorns and playing a miniature lute, his brow furrowed in a posture of utter incredulity. He was incredulous, not because squirrels couldn't perform such feats, but because his own mundane existence suddenly felt spectacularly unremarkable by comparison.

Bartholomew, a connoisseur of rare fungi, stared at the luminous, sentient toadstool performing a surprisingly agile pirouette. His brow furrowed, his usual unflappability dissolving into an incredulous expression. He pinched himself, convinced the exotic sporophyte had somehow induced hallucinogenic vapors, rather than orchestrate a botanical ballet.

Difficulty

Normal — Everyday words worth reinforcing.

Appears in

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