Spectacular vs Incredible - What's the difference?

spectacular | incredible | Related terms |

As adjectives the difference between spectacular and incredible

is that spectacular is amazing or worthy of special notice while incredible is too implausible to be credible; beyond belief; unbelievable.

As a noun spectacular

is a spectacular display.

spectacular

English

Adjective

(en adjective)

Amazing or worthy of special notice

The parachutists were spectacular .

(dated) Related to, or having the character of, a spectacle or entertainment

the merely spectacular

* G. Hickes

Spectacular sports.

* {{quote-news, 1910, August 21, Andre Tridon, Europe Flirts with Argentina to Win Her Rich Trade, The New York Times citation

, passage=Those apparently insignificant events which really make history are seldom featured in the press; the merely spectacular too frequently crowds the essential out of the public sheets.}}

Relating to spectacles, or glasses for the eyes.

Derived terms

* spectacularly * unspectacular

External links

* *

Noun

(en noun)

A spectacular display.

* 2010 , "Under the volcano", The Economist , 16 Oct 2010:

Though business has more or less held up so far, a series of drug-related spectaculars sparked an exodus of the city's upper class this summer.

incredible

English

Adjective

(en adjective)

Too implausible to be credible; beyond belief; unbelievable.

* 1980 September 16, (w), quoted in William A. Schwartz et al., The Nuclear Seduction: Why the Arms Race Doesn’t Matter—And What Does , University of California Press (1990, 1993), ISBN 0-520-06134-9, page 29:

I get lost in what is credible and not credible. This whole thing gets so incredible when you consider wiping out whole nations, it is difficult to establish credibility.

* 2009 , (Diarmaid MacCulloch), A History of Christianity , Penguin 2010, page 796:

He therefore found revealed religion incredible in a literal sense, and, as Bayle had done before him, he radically separated morality from the practice of organized religion.

Amazing; astonishing; awe-inspiring.

He was so wrapped up in watching the incredible special effects that he couldn't keep track of the story.

Marvelous; profoundly affecting; wonderful.

I had such an incredible slice of pizza last night that I simply can't think about anything else.

Synonyms

* unbelievable