credulous
Meaning
Too ready to believe things and therefore easy to deceive.
Structure
Usage
She was a credulous child who believed every fantastic story she was told.
The scam artist targeted credulous elderly people with his fake investment schemes.
His credulous nature made him an easy target for misinformation spread online.
Etymology
The word 'credulous' is built directly on the Latin verb 'credere', meaning 'to believe' or 'to trust'. The suffix '-ulous' is a productive adjectival ending in English, derived from Latin '-ulosus', which indicates a strong propensity or tendency. Thus, the literal construction means "full of belief" or "prone to believing." Over time, this inherent tendency acquired a negative connotation, shifting from a neutral state of being trusting to the modern sense of being overly or naively trusting, and therefore easily misled. This semantic shift reflects a cultural valuation where excessive belief without evidence is seen as a weakness.
Analysis
- cred: From Latin 'credere' (to believe, trust). A root conveying belief or trust. - ulous: A Latin adjectival suffix, a variant of '-ulous', meaning 'full of', 'prone to', or 'tending to'.