Standard Lemma guide

incredible

adj · 4 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.

  • UK: /ɪŋˈkɹɛdɪbəl/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: ĭngkrĕ'dəbəl
  • US: /ɪŋˈkɹɛdəbəl/
  • US: [ɪ̈ŋˈkɹ̥wɛɾəbəɫ]
  • US: [ɪ̈ŋˈkɹ̥wɛɾəbɫ̩]
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɛdɪbəl
  • CMU ARPABET: IH2 N K R EH1 D AH0 B AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Too implausible to be credible; beyond belief.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: literal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: noncredible, unbelievable

Antonyms: believable, credible

2

adj

Meaning 2

Amazing; astonishing; awe-inspiring.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively

Examples

  • He was so wrapped up in watching the incredible special effects that he couldn't keep track of the story.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: awesome, unbelievable

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Marvellous; profoundly affecting; wonderful; excellent.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively

Examples

  • I had such an incredible slice of pizza last night that I simply can't think about anything else.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: awesome, unbelievable

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective

Meaning 4

beyond belief or understanding

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • at incredible speed
  • the book's plot is simply incredible

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: unbelievable

Antonyms: credible

History

Etymology

From Middle English incredible, from Latin incrēdibilis (“that cannot be believed”), from in- (“not”) + crēdibilis (“worthy of belief”), from crēdō (“believe”), equivalent to in- + credible.

Across languages

Translations

121 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Asturian: increyible — too implausible to be credible
  • Asturian: increíble — too implausible to be credible
  • Azerbaijani: ağlabatmaz — too implausible to be credible
  • Azerbaijani: ağlasığmaz — too implausible to be credible
  • Azerbaijani: inanılmaz — too implausible to be credible
  • Belarusian: неймаве́рны (njejmavjérny) — too implausible to be credible
  • Belarusian: невераго́дны (njevjerahódny) — too implausible to be credible
  • Bulgarian: невероя́тен (neverojáten) — too implausible to be credible
  • Catalan: increïble — too implausible to be credible
  • Chinese Mandarin: 難以置信 /难以置信 (nányǐzhìxìn) — too implausible to be credible
  • Czech: neuvěřitelný — too implausible to be credible
  • Dutch: ongelofelijk — too implausible to be credible
  • Esperanto: nekredebla — too implausible to be credible
  • Finnish: uskomaton — too implausible to be credible
  • Finnish: epäuskottava — too implausible to be credible
  • French: incroyable — too implausible to be credible
  • Galician: incrible — too implausible to be credible
  • Galician: incríbel — too implausible to be credible
  • Georgian: დაუჯერებელი (dauǯerebeli) — too implausible to be credible
  • German: unglaubhaft — too implausible to be credible
  • German: unglaublich — too implausible to be credible
  • Greek: απίστευτος (apísteftos) — too implausible to be credible
  • Irish: dochreidte — too implausible to be credible
  • Italian: incredibile — too implausible to be credible
  • Japanese: ありえない (arienai) — too implausible to be credible
  • Japanese: 飛躍しすぎている (hiyaku shisugite iru) — too implausible to be credible
  • Japanese: 信じられない (shinjirarenai) — too implausible to be credible
  • Latin: incrēdibilis — too implausible to be credible
  • Macedonian: неверојатен (neverojaten) — too implausible to be credible
  • Manx: neuchredjallagh — too implausible to be credible
  • Manx: anchredjallagh — too implausible to be credible
  • Norwegian Bokmål: utrolig — too implausible to be credible
  • Norwegian Bokmål: utrulig — too implausible to be credible
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: utruleg — too implausible to be credible
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: utrulig — too implausible to be credible
  • Occitan: incredible — too implausible to be credible
  • Plautdietsch: onjleeflich — too implausible to be credible
  • Polish: niewiarygodny — too implausible to be credible
  • Portuguese: inacreditável — too implausible to be credible
  • Portuguese: incredível — too implausible to be credible
  • Romanian: incredibil — too implausible to be credible
  • Russian: невероя́тный (neverojátnyj) — too implausible to be credible
  • Russian: неимове́рный (neimovérnyj) — too implausible to be credible
  • Serbo-Croatian: невjероjатан — too implausible to be credible
  • Serbo-Croatian: невероjатан — too implausible to be credible
  • Serbo-Croatian: невjероватан — too implausible to be credible
  • Serbo-Croatian: невероватан — too implausible to be credible
  • Serbo-Croatian: nevjerojatan — too implausible to be credible
  • Serbo-Croatian: neverojatan — too implausible to be credible
  • Serbo-Croatian: nevjerovatan — too implausible to be credible
  • Serbo-Croatian: neverovatan — too implausible to be credible
  • Slovak: neuveriteľný — too implausible to be credible
  • Slovene: neverjeten — too implausible to be credible
  • Spanish: increíble — too implausible to be credible
  • Swedish: otrolig — too implausible to be credible
  • Turkish: inanılmaz — too implausible to be credible
  • Ukrainian: неймові́рний (nejmovírnyj) — too implausible to be credible
  • Vietnamese: khó tin — too implausible to be credible
  • Welsh: anhygoel — too implausible to be credible
  • Bulgarian: поразителен (porazitelen) — amazing
  • Catalan: increïble — amazing
  • Dutch: ongelofelijk — amazing
  • Esperanto: eksterodinara — amazing
  • Finnish: uskomaton — amazing
  • French: incroyable — amazing
  • French: incrédible — amazing
  • German: erstaunlich — amazing
  • German: verblüffend — amazing
  • German: verwunderlich — amazing
  • Greek: απίστευτος (apísteftos) — amazing
  • Irish: dochreidte — amazing
  • Italian: incredibile — amazing
  • Japanese: 驚異的な (kyōiteki na) — amazing
  • Latin: incrēdibilis — amazing
  • Norwegian Bokmål: utrolig — amazing
  • Norwegian Bokmål: utrulig — amazing
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: utruleg — amazing
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: utrulig — amazing
  • Portuguese: incrível — amazing
  • Romanian: incredibil — amazing
  • Russian: потряса́ющий (potrjasájuščij) — amazing
  • Russian: потря́сный (potrjásnyj) — amazing
  • Russian: изуми́тельный (izumítelʹnyj) — amazing
  • Russian: порази́тельный (porazítelʹnyj) — amazing
  • Russian: ошеломи́тельный (ošelomítelʹnyj) — amazing
  • Spanish: increíble — amazing
  • Spanish: de la puta hostia — amazing
  • Swedish: otrolig — amazing
  • Turkish: şaşırtıcı — amazing
  • Bulgarian: чудесен (čudesen) — marvellous
  • Chinese Mandarin: 驚人的 /惊人的 (jīngrén de) — marvellous
  • Chinese Mandarin: 了不起 (liǎobùqǐ) — marvellous
  • Esperanto: mirinda — marvellous
  • Finnish: uskomaton — marvellous
  • French: incroyable — marvellous
  • German: fabelhaft — marvellous
  • German: herrlich — marvellous
  • German: wunderbar — marvellous
  • Irish: dochreidte — marvellous
  • Japanese: 素晴らしい (subarashii) — marvellous
  • Norwegian Bokmål: utrolig — marvellous
  • Norwegian Bokmål: utrulig — marvellous
  • Norwegian Bokmål: fantastisk — marvellous
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: utruleg — marvellous
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: utrulig — marvellous
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: fantastisk — marvellous
  • Portuguese: incrível — marvellous
  • Romanian: incredibil — marvellous
  • Russian: потряса́ющий (potrjasájuščij) — marvellous
  • Russian: потря́сный (potrjásnyj) — marvellous
  • Russian: изуми́тельный (izumítelʹnyj) — marvellous
  • Russian: порази́тельный (porazítelʹnyj) — marvellous
  • Russian: ошеломи́тельный (ošelomítelʹnyj) — marvellous
  • Russian: чуде́сный (čudésnyj) — marvellous
  • Russian: удиви́тельный (udivítelʹnyj) — marvellous
  • Russian: неимове́рный (neimovérnyj) — marvellous
  • Spanish: maravilloso — marvellous
  • Spanish: increíble — marvellous
  • Turkish: fevkalade — marvellous
  • Turkish: olağanüstü — marvellous
  • Ukrainian: неймові́рний (nejmovírnyj) — marvellous
Real reading context

incredible in complete knowledge articles