credible

C1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈkɹɛdəbl̩/ See IPA manual

Freq #12398

Meanings

1

adj
Able to be believed; convincing and plausible.

Usage: Use credible for an account, explanation, or person that can be believed. It describes plausibility or trustworthiness; it does not guarantee that a claim is true.

The matching receipts made her explanation credible to the investigators.

The police said the witness gave a credible account of events.
2

adj
Trustworthy and reliable as a source.

Always check that your information comes from credible sources.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · able to be believed;... believable

Opposites

incredible noncredibleuncredible

Word family

Derived forms credibleness crediblydiscredible

Related forms credence credential credibility credit

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

credible witness
a witness whose account is considered believable

Adjective + noun

Etymology

Through Middle English and Middle French credible, from Latin crēdibilis, related to crēdō and its infinitive crēdere, meaning to believe or trust.

*ḱerd- Proto-Indo-European credible Middle English crēdibilis Latin credere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# credible

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈkɹɛdəbl̩/
**Frequency rank:** 12398

## Meanings
1. Able to be believed; convincing and plausible.
2. Trustworthy and reliable as a source.

## Usage Notes
- Able to be believed; convincing and plausible.: Use credible for an account, explanation, or person that can be believed. It describes plausibility or trustworthiness; it does not guarantee that a claim is true.

## Examples
- The matching receipts made her explanation credible to the investigators.
- The police said the witness gave a credible account of events.
- Always check that your information comes from credible sources.

## Antonyms
- incredible
- noncredible
- uncredible

## Derived Forms
- credibleness
- credibly
- discredible

## Related Forms
- credence
- credential
- credibility
- credit

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *ḱerd-
- Root: credible
- Root: crēdibilis
- Root: credere - to believe

## Etymology
Through Middle English and Middle French credible, from Latin crēdibilis, related to crēdō and its infinitive crēdere, meaning to believe or trust.

## AI Etymology
Credible is from Middle English credible, borrowed from Middle French credible, from Latin crēdibilis (“worthy of belief”), from crēdō (“believe”); see credit. In present-day use, it can mean able to be believed; convincing and plausible, or trustworthy and reliable as a source. Derived formations include credibleness, credibly, and discredible.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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