Definition of verisimilitude
1
:the quality or state of being verisimilar
2
:something verisimilar
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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 of verisimilitude from the Web
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These being large spectacle films, the creative teams behind them understood that the audience, at least partially returns, film after film, to experience a world with greater and greater levels of verisimilitude.
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Any discrepancy is used to adjust the speed of the video, in order to preserve verisimilitude.
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Projections of the real ship and crew add verisimilitude, but this is not a docu-drama.
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The authors do cut the verisimilitude ever so slightly short, though.
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Not really death impending, but death in verisimilitude -- jarring, loud, and uninvited but not shooting or exploding.
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The horror and unease in the narrative derives in part from its verisimilitude in conveying the grotesque and in part the blurring of the animal and the human, resulting in a fascinating exploration of both.
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For verisimilitude, Beanie Boy would be more likely to buy his instrument its own seat on a flight than risk damaging it in the jostling of the hordes.
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Politics percolate in evocations of social class and function, with verisimilitude tipping toward the surreal in, for example, a set that suggests at once a beauty parlor, a medical facility, and a prison.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'verisimilitude.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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.
Origin and Etymology of verisimilitude
borrowed from Latin vērīsimilitūdō, from vērī similis, vērīsimilis "having the appearance of truth" + -tūdō, suffix of abstract nouns — more at verisimilar
verisimilitude Synonyms
Synonyms
literalism, naturalism, realism, representationalism, verismoRelated Words
photo-realism; authenticity, grittinessOther Literature Terms
VERISIMILITUDE Defined for English Language Learners
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Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for verisimilitude Nglish: Translation of verisimilitude for Spanish speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about verisimilitude
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