verisimilitude

noun

veri·​si·​mil·​i·​tude ˌver-ə-sə-ˈmi-lə-ˌtüd 

-ˌtyüd

1

: the quality or state of being verisimilar

2

: something verisimilar

verisimilitudinous

ˌver-ə-sə-ˌmi-lə-ˈtüd-nəs 

-ˈtyüd-;

-ˈtü-də-nəs

-ˈtyü-

adjective

Did you know?

From its roots, verisimilitude means basically "similarity to the truth". Most fiction writers and filmmakers aim at some kind of verisimilitude to give their stories an air of reality. They need not show something actually true, or even very common, but simply something believable. A mass of good details in a play, novel, painting, or film may add verisimilitude. A spy novel without some verisimilitude won't interest many readers, but a fantastical novel may not even attempt to seem true to life.

Synonyms

• realism

Examples of verisimilitude in a Sentence

the novel's degree of verisimilitude is compromised by 18th-century characters who speak in very 21st-century English

Recent Examples on the Web

And like that Tom Cruise sequel, F1 plays up the fact that authenticity, verisimilitude and a you-are-there-feeling can often make the difference between a fun afternoon at the moving pictures and an immersive adrenaline rush. —David Fear, Rolling Stone, 17 June 2025

This is at odds with the verisimilitude of the natural voices and saps the show of dramatic tension. —Elisabeth Vincentelli, New York Times, 20 May 2025

What Vuong seems to mean is that such Proustian details are unexpected but nevertheless distinctive; their unprompted specificity gives the story a verisimilitude. —Andrea Long Chu, Vulture, 6 May 2025

Artisans aged and dyed the costumes over and over again, relentlessly pursuing verisimilitude in all things. —Erik Kain, Forbes, 11 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Latin vērīsimilitūdō, from vērī similis, vērīsimilis "having the appearance of truth" + -tūdō, suffix of abstract nouns — more at verisimilar

First Known Use

circa 1576, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for verisimilitude

• accrued
• allude
• collude
• conclude
• construed
• debuted
• delude
• elude
• endued
• ensued
• eschewed
• etude

Kids Definition

verisimilitude

noun

veri·​si·​mil·​i·​tude ˌver-ə-sə-ˈmil-ə-ˌt(y)üd 

: the appearance of being true or real