credulouslyadv.
/ˈkrɛdjᵿləsli/, /ˈkrɛdʒᵿləsli/, U.S. /ˈkrɛdʒələsli/ In a credulous manner.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > belief, trust, confidence > over-readiness to believe, credulity > [adverb]
fondly1550
credulously1584
1584 T. Lodge Alarum against Vsurers f. 18 Trust not to apparant goodes, beleeue not credulously ye faire spoken, be as prouident to eschew trouble, as the enuious is prudent to procure your discomfort.
1643 R. Baker Chron. Kings of Eng. ii. 104 The City of Yorke had not too credulously believed king Edwards Oath.
1700 G. Stanhope tr. Simplicius Comm. Epictetus' Morals (ed. 2) xxx. 177 Persons in his Circumstances are..not only too credulously vain upon the false Judgments of others, but unqualified, as yet, to pass any true Judgment upon themselves.
1749 T. Smollett Regicide i. vi. 11 Th' unthrifty Maid Too credulously fond! who gave away Her Heart so lavishly, deserves to wed The Woes that from her Indiscretion flow!
1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall III. 91 Sectaries, who credulously received the fables of Ovid, and obstinately rejected the miracles of the Gospel.
1834 T. Eden Outl. New Syst. Philos. 186 They have their methods of reasoning, their oracles, which they blindly bow to, and credulously take their creeds from.
1882–3 P. Schaff et al. Relig. Encycl. 1236 Each may have received too credulously that statement which seemed to favor their own views.
1930 H. W. Evans Rising Storm ii. xviii. 201 This denial is credulously accepted by many non-Catholics, and doubtless even by great numbers of Catholics.
2011 Irish Times (Nexis) 17 June (Finance) 10 The Amina case proves minorities are listened to more credulously than others.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.1584