SINCE 1828

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

believe it or not

Definition of believe it or not

—used to suggest that the listener will be surprised His latest movie, believe it or not, is a romantic comedy about a group of lawyers.

Word by Word Definitions

believeplay

: to have a firm or wholehearted religious conviction or persuasion : to regard the existence of God as a fact
: to accept something as true, genuine, or real
: to have a firm conviction as to the goodness, efficacy, or ability of something

See the full definition of believe

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up believe it or not? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show

WORD OF THE DAY

perspicuous

play

clear to the understanding

Words at Play

alt-594d2b6325245

'Pride': The Word That Went From Vice to Strength

Do you take pride in Pride?

Pink: The Color that Will Change Your Life

From Fuchsia to Baker-Miller Pink

That Sucks Word Alternatives

Your day is the worst. Your vocabulary is the best.

alt-5931949575ca5

'All the Feels,' All the Time

Once more, with 'feels'

Ask the Editors

Is it wrong to use 'decimate' to mean 'destroy'?

Language changes

The Serial Comma

Why don't they call it the Merriam-Webster comma?

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless

Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals

Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

istock-refers-to-this-as-a-tumble-of-strawberries-which-sounded-pretty-nice-to-us

June 2017 Words of the Day Quiz

Summer's first WOTD quiz.

Take the quiz

alt-5941ad7527c3c

Yearbook Superlatives Quiz

Is that your picture under "Largest Vocabulary"?

Take the quiz

Name That Thing

Name That Thing

Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!

Take the quiz

Syn City

Build a city of skyscrapers—one synonym at a time.

Play the game