Synonyms of credible
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

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.

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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Then, assess whether your expertise is represented across credible sources, including industry publications, analyst commentary, customer reviews and original research. — Sarah Tourville, Forbes.com, 30 Oct. 2026 The conditions under which Americans would find rumors of widespread satanic ritual abuse credible had been building for years. — Jordana Rosenfeld, Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Oct. 2026 However, preliminary research has shown that chatbots tend to cite questionable sources more often when there are very few sources of credible reporting, such as downballot races where there is often less news coverage. — Huo Jingnan, NPR, 30 Oct. 2026 Alongside her scientifically credible poisoning scenarios, numerous doctors and pharmacists appear in Christie’s novels — sometimes as victims, other times as murderers — showing how her early brushes with the world of medicine never left her mind. — Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 29 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for credible

Word History

Etymology

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

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of credible was in the 14th century

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Credible.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/credible. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

Kids Definition

credible

adjective
: offering reasonable grounds for being believed
a credible story
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster