Page 451 - Word Power Made Easy: The Complete Handbook for Building a Superior Vocabulary

KEY: 1–incredulously, 2–incredible, 3–credulous, 4–credible, 5–incredulity, 6–incredible, 7–
incredibility, 8–credulity, 9–credible, 10–incredibility, credulous

4. what people believe in

Credo, to believe, is the origin of four other useful English words.
1. Credo (KREE′-do)—personal belief, code of ethics; the principles by which people guide
their actions.
2. Creed—a close synonym of credo; in addition, a religious belief, such as Catholicism,

Judaism, Protestantism, Hinduism, etc.
3 . Credence (KREE′-dƏns)—belief, as in, “I place no credence in his stories.” or “Why
should I give any credence to what you say?”
4. Credentials (krƏ-DEN′-shƏls)—a document or documents proving a person’s right to a

title or privilege (i.e., a right to be believed), as in, “The new ambassador presented his
credentials to the State Department.”

5. heads and tails

We can hardly close our book on the words suggested by ingenuous without looking at the
other side of the coin. If ingenuous means frank, open, then disingenuous (dis-in-JEN′-y -Əs)
should mean not frank or open. But disingenuous people are far more than simply not
ingenuous. They are crafty, cunning, dishonest, artful, insincere, untrustworthy—and they
are all of these while making a pretense of being simple, frank, and aboveboard. You are
thinking of a wolf in sheep’s clothing? It’s a good analogy.

Similarly, a remark may be disingenuous, as may also a statement, an attitude, a
confession, etc.
Add -ness to form the noun derived from disingenuous: __________________.

REVIEW OF ETYMOLOGY

PREFIX, ROOT, SUFFIX MEANING

1. in- negative prefix

ENGLISH WORD _____________

2. -ness noun suffix

ENGLISH WORD _____________

3. credo to believe