View synonyms for

incredibly

[ in-kred-uh-blee ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adverb

in a way that is extraordinary, seemingly impossible, or difficult to believe; incredulously:
Incredibly, we have already raised $750.
very; extremely:
Your hair will be left incredibly soft, supple, and shiny.
I found the incredibly uncomfortable seats a real distraction—tall people beware.

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Usage Note

Incredibly and, somewhat less commonly, incredulously can both be used to mean “unbelievably,” as in It was an incredulously/incredibly expensive flight. They both share the roots of in, meaning “not,” and ��ŧ��, meaning “to believe,” so this shared meaning of “not able to be believed” is rooted in their etymology. Beware, however: they both also have other senses that are not synonyms. Incredibly can mean “very” or “extremely,” but incredulously is not used that way: This is an incredibly exciting moment for me. Incredulously can mean “disbelievingly,” but incredibly is not used that way: She stared at the painting incredulously, skeptical of its veracity .

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Word History and Origins

Origin of incredibly¹

First recorded in 1500–10; incredib(le) ( def ) + -ly ( def )

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

"I had gone to a family friend's house for a meal, and we began watching the conclave. The moment the white smoke rose, I started to tremble. I became incredibly nervous," he said.

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And I don’t really like the look when things are incredibly clean and flat.

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“He told his mom, through tears and an incredibly emotional phone call, that she really just must not want him after all.”

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"So we don't close fully we've had to make the incredibly difficult decision to drop down our offering to one bag a month beginning in May," he said.

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"This is an incredibly complex question that we are looking at about how we reform our energy market," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

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Related Words

incredible incredulity

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