PLAUSIBLE DEFINITIONS - 12 definitions found
plausible adj 1: apparently reasonable and valid, and truthful; "a plausible excuse" [ant: implausible] 2: given to or characterized by presenting specious arguments; "a plausible liar" plausible - fojod plausible 1541, from L. plausibilis "deserving applause, acceptable," from pp. stem of plaudere "to applaud." Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition (2003) plausible adjective Etymology: Latin plausibilis worthy of applause, from plausus, past participle of plaudere Date: 1565 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> • plausibleness noun • plausibly adverb Oxford English Reference Dictionary
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner\'s English Dictionary plausible 1. An explanation or statement that is plausible seems likely to be true or valid. A more plausible explanation would seem to be that people are fed up with the Conservative government... = reasonable ADJ • plausibly Having bluffed his way in without paying, he could not plausibly demand his money back. ADV: ADV with v • plausibility ...the plausibility of the theory. = credibility N-UNCOUNT 2. If you say that someone is plausible, you mean that they seem to be telling the truth and to be sincere and honest. He was so plausible that he conned everybody. = believable ADJ English Explanatory Dictionary plausible ˈplɔ:zəbl adj. 1 (of an argument, statement, etc.) seeming reasonable or probable. 2 (of a person) persuasive but deceptive. øøplausibility n. plausibly adv. [L plausibilis (as PLAUDIT)] Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) Plausible \Plau"si*ble\, a. [L. plausibilis praiseworthy, from plaudere, plausum, to applaud, clap the hands, strike, beat.] 1. Worthy of being applauded; praiseworthy; commendable; ready. [Obs.] --Bp. Hacket. 2. Obtaining approbation; specifically pleasing; apparently right; specious; as, a plausible pretext; plausible manners; a plausible delusion. ``Plausible and popular arguments.'' --Clarendon. 3. Using specious arguments or discourse; as, a plausible speaker. Soule\'s Dictionary of English Synonyms plausible a. 1. Specious, colorable, seemingly fair. 2. Fair-spoken, glib, using specious arguments. English Explanatory Dictionary (Synonyms) plausible ˈplɔ:zəbl adj. 1 likely, believable, reasonable, credible, tenable, conceivable, thinkable, probable, imaginable, admissible, sound, sensible, rational, logical, acceptable, trustworthy, presentable: The police regarded our alibi as plausible. 2 specious, deceptive, meretricious, misleading, deceitful, casuistic, sophistical, Jesuitical, smooth, empty: He was a cunning, plausible sort of fellow. Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 67 Moby Thesaurus words for "plausible": acceptable, admissible, apparent, apparently sound, believable, casuistic, cogent, cogitable, colorable, colored, conceivable, conceivably possible, contingent, credible, creditable, deceitful, deceptive, disingenuous, empty, fallacious, fiduciary, gilded, hollow, humanly possible, illusive, imaginable, insincere, jesuitic, just, justifiable, legitimate, likely, logical, meretricious, misleading, ostensible, overrefined, oversubtle, philosophistic, possible, potential, presentable, probable, rational, reasonable, reliable, sane, seeming, sensible, smooth, sophistic, sophistical, sound, specious, tenable, thinkable, tinsel, trustworthy, trusty, unexceptionable, unimpeachable, unquestionable, well-argued, well-founded, well-grounded, wholesome, worthy of faith |
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