Meanings
comparative more unbelievably · superlative most unbelievably · alternative unbelievablely
- mannerIn a manner that one does not or cannot believe.
He gestured unbelievably. Everyone knew he was faking his illness.
1 more example
Almost unbelievably, some authors have formed the erroneous conception that ‘Hobson-Jobson’ is actually the double-barrelled surname of the dictionary’s editor.
2018, James Lambert, “Setting the Record Straight: An In-depth Examination of Hobson-Jobson”, in International Journal of Lexicography, volume 31, number 4, →DOI, page 488 - degreeTo an extent not to be believed.
His face turned unbelievably blue. We realized he was actually choking.
- evaluativeContrary to expectations, amazingly.
Unbelievably, Rudy saved the man's life but got sued for breaking two of his ribs.
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbin an unbelievable manner
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Englishunbelievable
- Proto-Indo-European*leyg-
- Proto-Germanic*līką
- Englishunbelievably
From unbelievable + -ly.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan increïblement, increïblement
- increïblementin a manner one does not believe
- increïblementto an extent not to be believed
Chinese Mandarin 不可信地, 难以置信地
- 不可信地in a manner one does not believe
- 难以置信地to an extent not to be believed
- 难以置信地contrary to expectations
- 惊人地contrary to expectations
Czech neuvěřitelně
- neuvěřitelněto an extent not to be believed
Dutch ongelooflijk, ongelooflijk
- ongelooflijkin a manner one does not believe
- ongelooflijkto an extent not to be believed
- ongelooflijkcontrary to expectations
- wonderbaarlijkcontrary to expectations
Finnish uskomattomasti, uskomattoman
- uskomattomastiin a manner one does not believe
- uskomattomanto an extent not to be believed
- uskomattomasticontrary to expectations
French incroyablement, incroyablement
- incroyablementin a manner one does not believe
- incroyablementto an extent not to be believed
- extrêmementto an extent not to be believed
- trèsto an extent not to be believed
- incroyablementcontrary to expectations
German unglaublich, unglaubwürdig
- unglaublichin a manner one does not believe
- unglaubwürdigin a manner one does not believe
- unglaublichto an extent not to be believed
- wunderbarweisecontrary to expectations
Greek απίστευτα, απίστευτα
- απίστευτα (apístefta)in a manner one does not believe
- απίστευτα (apístefta)to an extent not to be believed
- απίστευτα (apístefta)contrary to expectations
- απροσδόκητα (aprosdókita)contrary to expectations
Hungarian hihetetlenül
- hihetetlenülto an extent not to be believed
Italian incredibilmente, incredibilmente
- incredibilmentein a manner one does not believe
- incredibilmenteto an extent not to be believed
- incredibilmentecontrary to expectations
Portuguese inacreditavelmente, inacreditavelmente
- inacreditavelmentein a manner one does not believe
- inacreditavelmenteto an extent not to be believed
- inacreditavelmentecontrary to expectations
Russian невероя́тно, невероя́тно
- невероя́тно (neverojátno)in a manner one does not believe
- невероя́тно (neverojátno)to an extent not to be believed
- невероя́тно (neverojátno)contrary to expectations
Spanish increíblemente, increíblemente
- increíblementein a manner one does not believe
- increíblementeto an extent not to be believed
- increíblementecontrary to expectations
Ukrainian неймові́рно
- неймові́рно (nejmovírno)to an extent not to be believed
Cite this entry
unbelievably. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unbelievably
“unbelievably.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unbelievably. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unbelievably,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unbelievably.
Source: unbelievably on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.