plausible

adjective

plau·si·ble | \ ˈplȯ-zə-bəl

Definition of plausible

1 : superficially fair, reasonable, or valuable but often specious a plausible pretext

2 : superficially pleasing or persuasive a swindler … , then a quack, then a smooth, plausible gentleman— R. W. Emerson

3 : appearing worthy of belief the argument was both powerful and plausible

Other Words from plausible Synonyms & Antonyms You Can Believe This History of Plausible More Example Sentences Learn More about plausible

Keep scrolling for more

You Can Believe This History of Plausible

Today the word plausible usually means "reasonable" or "believable," but it once held the meanings "worthy of being applauded" and "approving." It comes to us from the Latin adjective plausibilis ("worthy of applause"), which in turn derives from the verb plaudere, meaning "to applaud or clap." Other "plaudere" descendants in English include "applaud," "plaudit" (the earliest meaning of which was "a round of applause"), and "explode" (from Latin explodere, meaning "to drive off the stage by clapping).

Examples of plausible in a Sentence

I watch the ospreys who nest on Perch Island high atop their white spruce. Our sense of a plausible summer depends much on their diligent success at nest-building and procreation, and on their chicks fledging in late August. — Richard Ford, Wall Street Journal, 14-15 June 2008 … I'd mastered the quick size-up. Does the person seem agreeable over coffee at the drugstore counter and picking up his mail at the post office, drive a plausible vehicle, and know the weather forecast? — Edward Hoagland, Harper's, June 2007 Now, two NASA scientists, both also astronauts, suggest a simpler, safer, and much more plausible way of diverting an offending asteroid. Their method relies on the gravitational tug of a massive, unmanned spacecraft to pull the rock away from a damaging rendezvous with Earth. — R. Cowen, Science News, 12 Nov. 2005 … string theorists can exhibit plausible models of a unified Universe, but unfortunately they cannot explain why we inhabit a particular one. — Michael Atiyah, Nature, 22-29 Dec. 2005 it's a plausible explanation for the demise of that prehistoric species

Recent Examples on the Web

Both are plausible, but very hard to put probabilities on. — James Mackintosh, WSJ, "My Lessons From the Market’s Wild December," 27 Dec. 2018 Others have maintained that Wagner’s story just didn’t seem plausible, and that the police did not investigate it thoroughly. — Eleanor Hildebrandt, Popular Mechanics, "The True Story of the Lost Sci-Fi Movie "Brainstorm," Natalie Wood’s Last Film," 21 Dec. 2018 Thus, many believed that Rowhammer on ECC memory, even if plausible in theory, is simply impractical. — Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, "Potentially disastrous Rowhammer bitflips can bypass ECC protections," 22 Nov. 2018 With that said, the idea is plausible given James’ appreciation of Durant’s game and calling Durant the difference between the Cavs and the Warriors in the past two Finals. — Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY, "LeBron James tracker: Insight and analysis on all the latest free agency buzz," 28 June 2018 Plus, Meghan has a famously close relationship with her mom, so this plan sounds very plausible. — Kayleigh Roberts, Marie Claire, "Meghan Markle's Father Has Apparently Not Been Invited to the Royal Wedding," 21 Apr. 2018 Prosecutors would likely respond that by speaking broadly to the public instead of privately to Stone, Trump was trying to influence Stone in a manner that gave him plausible deniability. — Sean Illing, Vox, "Did Trump commit witness tampering by tweet? I asked 9 legal experts.," 3 Dec. 2018 Notable differences include the use of Cobalt Strike rather than custom malware; however, many espionage actors do use publicly and commercially available frameworks for reasons such as plausible deniability. — Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, "Russia’s Cozy Bear comes out of hiding with post-election spear-phishing blitz," 20 Nov. 2018 And at first, rescuing the spacecraft seemed plausible: The engineers retrieved some initial data from the satellite and confirmed its batteries were still working. — Meghan Bartels, Space.com, "Long-Lost Spacecraft That NASA Rediscovered This Year Is Incommunicado," 30 Aug. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'plausible.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.