as in naive
too willing to believe things without substantial proof
Few people are credulous enough to believe such nonsense. a credulous audience
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Recent Examples of credulous
Many in the online pundit class balked at his article, casting it as anecdotal and credulous.
—
Antonia Hitchens,
New Yorker,
6 Apr. 2026
That act of imagination—that force of creative will, directed upon one’s own inner vision—is far more interesting to me than either a purely functionalist understanding of flight or a purely credulous one.
—
Chandler Fritz,
The New York Review of Books,
21 Mar. 2026
The dissenting conservatives—Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito—who were sympathetic to major questions in its prior applications are more credulous this time.
—
Idrees Kahloon,
The Atlantic,
20 Feb. 2026
Frequently, the seniors and social media debate tends to adopt a blanket approach, framing them as passive algorithmic victims that are credulous, overwhelmed and in need of rescue.
—
Angelica Mari,
Forbes.com,
12 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for credulous
Antonia Hitchens,
New Yorker,
6 Apr. 2026
That act of imagination—that force of creative will, directed upon one’s own inner vision—is far more interesting to me than either a purely functionalist understanding of flight or a purely credulous one.
—
Chandler Fritz,
The New York Review of Books,
21 Mar. 2026
The dissenting conservatives—Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito—who were sympathetic to major questions in its prior applications are more credulous this time.
—
Idrees Kahloon,
The Atlantic,
20 Feb. 2026
Frequently, the seniors and social media debate tends to adopt a blanket approach, framing them as passive algorithmic victims that are credulous, overwhelmed and in need of rescue.
—
Angelica Mari,
Forbes.com,
12 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for credulous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for credulous
Adjective
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In her own naive way, Miss Manners notices that your concern about gift cards requires a remarkable number of dollar signs to express.
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And radical hope — not naive optimism, but hope that lives in imagination.
Adjective
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Colocousis said people who think scam victims like him are gullible idiots don’t understand the sophistication of criminal organizations behind online fraud.
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However, several of the sequences, including the scenes between Imani and Layla, as well as the more violent and action-based ones, are so far removed from reality that even the most gullible viewers won’t take them seriously.
Adjective
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All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
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That law predates the much wider United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which took effect in 1994, giving ships the right of innocent passage through any country's territorial waters without paying a fee.
Adjective
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His position is assumed, in turn, by the largest of the immature fish, who, thanks to the tragedy, finally gets to grow up.
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Even Stevens was never afraid to go all out for its constant string of gags and jokes, led by Shia LaBeouf as the immature prankster Louis Stevens.
Cite this Entry
“Credulous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/credulous. Accessed 4 Jul. 2026.
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