Standard Lemma guide

credulity

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /kɹɪˈd͡ʒuːlɪti/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /kɹɪˈdjuːlɪti/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /kɹɪˈduːlɪti/
  • General-American: /kɹɪˈdjuːlɪti/
  • Mid-Atlantic, US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: K R IH0 D UW1 L AH0 T IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A willingness to believe in someone or something in the absence of reasonable proof; credulousness.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: credulosity, credulousness, gullibility, naivety

Antonyms: skepticism, doubt, wariness, suspicion

2

noun

Meaning 2

Faith, credence; acceptance or maintenance of a belief.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, nonstandard, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: belief, faith, credence

Antonyms: incredulity

3

noun

Meaning 3

tendency to believe readily

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: trust, trustingness, trustfulness

Narrower terms: overcredulity

History

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English credulite (“faith, belief”), borrowed from Middle French credulité (French crédulité), from Latin crēdulitās. Corresponding to credulous + -ity (compare credulosity).