credible

adjective

cred·​i·​ble ˈkre-də-bəl 

1

: offering reasonable grounds for being believed or trusted

credible evidence

a credible source

credible witnesses

gave a credible account of the accident

… said the threats were not deemed credible.

—Stephen Wall

2

: good enough to be effective

a credible job

… does a credible imitation of a ballet student's exercises, as well as a flapper's Charleston.

—Dany Margolies

often, specifically : of sufficient capability to be militarily effective

a credible deterrent

credible forces

credibly

ˈkre-də-blē 

adverb

Did you know?

Credible evidence is evidence that's likely to be believed. A credible plan is one that might actually work, and a credible excuse is one your parents might actually believe. And just as credible means "believable", the noun credibility means "believability". (But we no longer use incredible to mean the literal opposite of credible, just as we no longer use unbelievable as the literal opposite of believable.) Since cred is short for credibility, "street cred" is the kind of credibility among tough young people that you can only get by proving yourself on the mean streets of the inner city.

Synonyms of credible

• plausible

Examples of credible in a Sentence

We've received credible information about the group's location.

She does a credible job of playing the famous singer.

Recent Examples on the Web

The team behind diVine says their ambition is not to compete on entertainment value, but to offer a credible alternative for users seeking transparency and trustworthiness. —Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Nov. 2025

The first step – again – would be establishing one source of credible, publicly verifiable data that deepens our collective knowledge of the risks. —Preston Fore, Fortune, 12 Nov. 2025

With this in mind, numerous sources from across the industry settled on Apple executive Jay Hunt, a former BBC Six O’Clock News editor, and James Harding, the ex-BBC current affairs boss who now runs Tortoise Media and the Observer, as credible candidates. —Max Goldbart, Deadline, 11 Nov. 2025

Despite high-profile advice to avoid Tylenol when pregnant and a potential warning-label change to highlight risk, a comprehensive umbrella study of existing reviews has found no credible link between acetaminophen use and autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). —New Atlas, 9 Nov. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Latin credibilis, from credere — see credence

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for credible

• edible
• incredible
• inedible

Kids Definition

credible

adjective

cred·​i·​ble ˈkred-ə-bəl 

: offering reasonable grounds for being believed

a credible story

credibly

ˈkred-ə-blē 

adverb