incredibly

Meanings

1. 1adverbnot comparableinformal

   To a very great degree; extremely.

   Grammar: Goes before an adjective or adverb: incredibly hard.

   Patterns

   • incredibly + adjective
   • incredibly well

   The view from the summit was incredibly beautiful.

   She worked incredibly hard to pass the exam.

   The soup was incredibly spicy.

2. 2adverbnot comparable

   In a way that is hard to believe and seems almost impossible.

   Grammar: Often placed at the start of a sentence: incredibly, no one was hurt.

   Patterns

   • incredibly, + clause

   Incredibly, nobody was hurt in the crash.

   He won the race incredibly, despite starting last.

   Incredibly, the old car still starts every morning.

Common combinations

incredibly talented

The young pianist is incredibly talented.

incredibly difficult

The final exam was incredibly difficult.

incredibly lucky

We were incredibly lucky with the weather.

incredibly fast

The cheetah ran incredibly fast.

incredibly kind

Her neighbors were incredibly kind.

Synonyms and how they differ

extremely

Extremely is the neutral intensifier, while incredibly adds a flavor of amazement.

remarkably

Remarkably suggests something worth noticing, where incredibly stresses the sheer degree.

unbelievably

Unbelievably is nearly identical but slightly more casual and emphatic.

astonishingly

Astonishingly points to the surprise of the fact, and is more formal than incredibly.

Opposites

Word family

incredible adjective

very good or hard to believe

incredulous adjective

unwilling to believe

incredulity noun

the state of not being able to believe

credible adjective

able to be believed

Commonly confused: incredibly or incredulous?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “incredibly”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words