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

• believable
• creditable
• likely
• plausible
• presumptive
• probable

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

There are no credible reports that Cauchi was Jewish. —Hannah Hudnall, USA TODAY, 19 Apr. 2024

Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive. —Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, 18 Apr. 2024

And that, Dunbar-Hester said, raises the question of whether USC faced a specific credible threat or was just trying to find a way to get around controversy. —Jenny Jarvie, Los Angeles Times, 18 Apr. 2024

But now, after three hot inflation reports in a row, El-Erian’s sticky prediction looks credible, and stagflation fears are back. —Bywill Daniel, Fortune, 12 Apr. 2024

Barkat is a decent and courageous man who could be a credible future prime minister. —Bret Stephens, The Mercury News, 11 Apr. 2024

And, of course, the public reaction told us that the public did not think that those answers were credible or good. —Stephanie Petit, Peoplemag, 5 Apr. 2024

While there are no credible predictions of a recession, many economists do see a slowdown. —David Lightman, Sacramento Bee, 4 Apr. 2024

Image of satanic meal digitally fabricated as joke There are no such products listed on McDonald's website and no credible news reports about McDonald's selling such a meal. —Hannah Hudnall, USA TODAY, 10 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

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

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

credible

adjective

cred·​i·​ble ˈkred-ə-bəl 

: offering reasonable grounds for being believed

a credible story

credibly

ˈkred-ə-blē 

adverb