incroyable
/ɛ̃.kʁwa.jabl/
The English word unbelievable is translated into French as incroyable.
incroyable is used to describe something that is incredible or difficult to believe.
Meaning: incredible (adj)
What does it mean word for word?
The root of the word comes from the verb croire, which means to believe.
How does it change in a sentence?
incroyable is an epicene adjective, meaning it has the same form for both masculine and feminine nouns. To make the adjective plural, add an 's' to get incroyables.
How do you pronounce it?
The pronunciation of incroyable is /ɛ̃.kʁwa.jabl/. It has 3 syllables.
Did you know?
- The word incroyable shares a common ancestor with the English word 'creed', as both stem from the Latin 'credo', meaning 'I believe'.
- Depending on the tone, incroyable can be used sarcastically to mean that something is actually pathetic or ridiculously bad.
- In casual spoken French, incroyable is often used as a one-word exclamation to mean 'No way!' or 'I can't believe it!', regardless of whether the news is good or bad.
Examples in context
- Mince, c'est incroyable !Gee, unbelievable!This sentence shows how to express surprise using incroyable.Tatoeba #9020438 by Micsmithel, translation #65354 by shekitten
- Cette histoire est incroyable.This story is unbelievable.This sentence demonstrates how to describe a story as incroyable.Tatoeba #6856379 by felix63, translation #6861487 by kaiperkins271
- Oui, c'était énorme. Incroyable !Yes, that was amazing. Unbelievable!This sentence shows how incroyable can be used to express that something was amazing.Tatoeba #754817 by sysko, translation #376422 by saeb
- J'ai reçu une promotion inouïe aujourd'hui !I received an unbelievable promotion today!
- C'est une situation impensable !It's an unbelievable situation!
- Le spectacle était époustouflant !The show was unbelievable!
- Tu ne devineras jamais, mais je viens de gagner à la loterie, c'est dingue !You'll never guess it, but I just won the lottery, it's unbelievable!
- C'est incroyable de voir à quel point il a réussi !It's unbelievable to see to what extent he succeeded!
- Je trouve ça hallucinant qu'elle puisse faire ça !I find it unbelievable that she can do that!
- 32 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Emma and Nathan are looking at a beautiful view from a balcony.
- EmmaLa vue est incroyable !The view is incredible!
- NathanOui, c'est vraiment incroyable.Yes, it is truly incredible.
- EmmaJe n'en reviens pas.I can't believe it.
- NathanC'est magnifique, Emma.It's magnificent, Emma.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “unbelievable” translations and entries incroyable, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries incroyable, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
