believable

IPA/bɪˈliːvəbl/
KK[bəlˈivəbəl]IPA/bɪˈliːvəbl/

believable — adjective

  • believablepositive
  • more believablecomparative
  • most believablesuperlative

1. easy to accept as something that could really happen, be true, or actually exist

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

easy to accept as something that could really happen, be true, or actually exist, because nothing about it sounds strange, fake, or exaggerated.

Example

Wairimu gave such a believable excuse that her mother stopped asking questions.

noun phrase: a believable excuse / story / reason

The actor's tears made the whole scene feel believable to the audience.

predicative: feel / seem / look believable

Common collocations
  • perfectly believable
  • hardly believable
  • barely believable
  • a believable character
  • a believable performance
  • a believable excuse
Synonyms
  • credible

    more formal; common in news and legal contexts

  • convincing

    stresses the power to persuade, not just plausibility

  • plausible

    sounds reasonable on the surface, though may still be false

  • realistic

    matches how things actually work in real life, especially in fiction

Antonyms
  • unbelievable

    direct opposite; also used informally for 'amazing'

  • implausible

    more formal; used about explanations and theories

  • far-fetched

    suggests an idea is so unlikely it sounds silly

Grammar Patterns

find + something + believable

believable + that-clause

Usage Note

Often modified by degree adverbs such as 'hardly', 'quite', 'completely', or 'barely'. Subjects are typically things that make a claim — stories, excuses, characters, performances, figures — rather than people themselves.

Common Mistakes

He is a believable man.
He sounds like a believable witness.
'believable' usually describes what someone says or how they appear in a role, not the person as a whole.
The price was very believable.
The price was very reasonable.
'believable' is about whether something seems true, not whether it seems fair or affordable.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All five words describe something that does not strike us as false, but they pull in slightly different directions. 'Believable' is the most everyday choice, used about stories, characters, and excuses in normal speech. 'Credible' is a notch more formal and turns up in news, courts, and reports — a credible witness has weight beyond merely sounding true. 'Plausible' focuses on surface reasoning: a plausible explanation seems logical, even if it later proves wrong. 'Convincing' is stronger; it actively persuades you, not just allows belief. 'Realistic' demands a match with how the real world works, which is why we praise a realistic novel rather than a believable one when accuracy matters. So a witness can be credible, an alibi plausible, a speech convincing, a film realistic, and a child's apology simply believable.

believable ↗credible ↗plausible ↗convincing ↗realistic ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • sound believable
  • seem believable
  • make something believable
  • find something believable

Prepositions

  • to (someone)

Etymology

Old EnglishLatinOld FrenchEnglish

Formed in English by joining the verb 'believe' with the suffix '-able', which adds the meaning 'capable of being'. The verb 'believe' comes from Old English 'belyfan', meaning to trust or hold dear, while '-able' entered English through Old French from the Latin ending '-abilis'. So 'believable' literally describes anything that is fit or able to be believed, and its modern use has stayed close to that simple word-by-word logic.