To save this word, you'll need to log in. Log In

Incredulous (“indisposed to admit or accept what is related as true”) spiked dramatically in lookups on March 6th, after a source used the word to describe FBI Director James Comey’s state of mind.

FBI Director James Comey was "incredulous" over the weekend after President Donald Trump's allegation via Twitter that former President Barack Obama ordered a wiretap of his phones during the campaign, a person familiar with the matter told CNN.

—Pamela Brown & Shimon Prokupecz, CNN.com, 6 Mar. 2017

The word has been in use since the middle of the 16th century, and has seen a small variety of uses over the years. One occasionally will encounter a usage guide advocating against one of these senses, which is the use of incredulous where incredible would typically be found (meaning “not to be believed”). Although this sense (which was not uncommon in Shakespeare’s time) appears to be employed more frequently of late, many writers today will restrict their use of incredulous to situations where it means “disbelieving.”

Trend Watch tracks and reports on the words that people are looking up. You can see all the Trend Watch articles here.