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

At one point, Wahlberg literally falls asleep in the middle of a car chase; the beat is credible enough on its own to forget that his character has been drugged. —David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 21 Nov. 2025

There is only one legitimate government in Venezuela, and it’s led by Edmundo González Urrutia, the exiled opposition leader backed by Machado who, according to credible voting tallies, won last year’s elections by a landslide. —Miami Herald, 21 Nov. 2025

Still, Garry hasn't seen enough of Morales inside the Octagon to view him as a credible threat. —Fernando Quiles Jr, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Nov. 2025

In the past year and a half, the city has decommissioned or taken down three major encampments that had taken hold along the waterfronts, giving all those camping there credible offers of housing or shelter. —Andy Sheehan, CBS News, 20 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