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
Guy seems pretty credulous here, especially after Doris tells him, finally, about the fate of poor Soledad.
—
Lily Osler, Vulture, 3 Nov. 2025
Almost universally—lurking over Knickerbocker’s shoulder, Irving raises an eyebrow: This historian is credulous, and not entirely reliable.
—John Swansburg, The Atlantic, 10 Oct. 2025
While Mare blossoms quickly under his guidance, the rest lag doltishly behind, using journalism as a pretext to confront an ex, or getting duped by some teens into writing a credulous account of a preposterous youth trend.
—Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 3 Sep. 2025
But like populism’s critique of insider politics, the outsider critique of the medical establishment has always struggled to offer an alternative vision that’s rigorous rather than credulous.
—Ross Douthat, Mercury News, 14 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for credulous
Lily Osler, Vulture, 3 Nov. 2025
Almost universally—lurking over Knickerbocker’s shoulder, Irving raises an eyebrow: This historian is credulous, and not entirely reliable.
—John Swansburg, The Atlantic, 10 Oct. 2025
While Mare blossoms quickly under his guidance, the rest lag doltishly behind, using journalism as a pretext to confront an ex, or getting duped by some teens into writing a credulous account of a preposterous youth trend.
—Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 3 Sep. 2025
But like populism’s critique of insider politics, the outsider critique of the medical establishment has always struggled to offer an alternative vision that’s rigorous rather than credulous.
—Ross Douthat, Mercury News, 14 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for credulous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for credulous
Adjective
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The first is Jonathan Harker, naïve English solicitor despatched to Transylvania to do a deal with a mysterious Count whose plan is to dip his fangs into Victorian England.—
Demetrios Matheou,
HollywoodReporter,
18 Feb. 2026
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Winning by rallying the naïve and clueless is one thing, but administering a throbbing behemoth is a greater challenge.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
18 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The result is that the current generation of LLMs is far more gullible than people.—
Bruce Schneier,
IEEE Spectrum,
21 Jan. 2026
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Norris’s archetypically American tale gave Stroheim an opportunity to build on his earlier depictions of Americans abroad as gullible and oblivious.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
17 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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As if the wide-eyed innocent who arrived here has been hardened.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
20 Feb. 2026
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Other concerns, Corrado notes, include the chance that an extremely sensitive DNA test could generate a DNA profile of someone who was never at a crime scene but whose DNA was transferred there by a family member or through other innocent means.—
Bill Chappell,
NPR,
19 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Adults have a waxy cottony-looking coating, while immature bugs are smaller but similar.—
Arricca Elin SanSone,
Southern Living,
14 Feb. 2026
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The film’s vintage patina doesn’t detract from rising actor Will Price’s confident performance as an immature mobster who prefers bitcoin to stacks of Benjamins.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Credulous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/credulous. Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.
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