Adjacent Words

reliable definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: worthy of reliance or trust; "a reliable source of information"; "a dependable worker" [syn: reliable, dependable] [ant: undependable, unreliable]
2: worthy of being depended on; "a dependable worker"; "an honest working stiff"; "a reliable sourcSFLe of information"; "he was true to his word"; "I would be true for there are those who trust me" [syn: dependable, honest, reliable, true]
3: conforming to fact and therefore worthy of belief; "an authentic account by an eyewitness"; "reliable information" [syn: authentic, reliable]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Date: 1569 1. suitable or fit to be relied on ; dependable 2. giving the same result on successive trials • reliableness noun • reliably adverb II. noun Date: 1852 one that is reliable

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 that may be relied on. 2 of sound and consistent character or quality. Derivatives: reliability n. reliableness n. reliably adv.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Reliable Re*li"a*ble (r?-l?"?-b'l), a. Suitable or fit to be relied on; worthy of dependance or reliance; trustworthy. ``A reliable witness to the truth of the miracles.'' --A. Norton. The best means, and most reliable pledge, of a higher object. --Coleridge. According to General Livingston's humorous account, his own village of Elizabethtown was not much more reliable, being peopled in those agitated times by ``unknown, unrecommended strangers, guilty-looking Tories, and very knavish Whigs.'' --W. Irving. Note: Some authors take exception to this word, maintaining that it is unnecessary, and irregular in formation. It is, however, sanctioned by the practice of many careful writers as a most convenient substitute for the phrase to be relied upon, and a useful synonym for trustworthy, which is by preference applied to persons, as reliable is to things, such as an account, statement, or the like. The objection that adjectives derived from neuter verbs do not admit of a passive sense is met by the citation of laughable, worthy of being laughed at, from the neuter verb to laugh; available, fit or able to be availed of, from the neuter verb to avail; dispensable, capable of being dispensed with, from the neuter verb to dispense. Other examples might be added. -- Re*li"a*ble*ness, n. -- Re*li"a*bly, adv.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. People or things that are reliable can be trusted to work well or to behave in the way that you want them to. She was efficient and reliable... Japanese cars are so reliable. ADJ • reliably It's been working reliably for years. ADV • reliability He's not at all worried about his car's reliability. N-UNCOUNT 2. Information that is reliable or that is from a reliable source is very likely to be correct. There is no reliable information about civilian casualties... ADJ • reliably Sonia, we are reliably informed, loves her family very much. ADV • reliability Both questioned the reliability of recent opinion polls.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. [Modern.] Trustworthy, trusty.

Moby Thesaurus

absolute, accurate, adducible, admissible, apposite, attestative, attested, attestive, authentic, authenticated, balanced, based on, believable, calculable, certain, circumstantial, circumstantiated, cogent, colorable, compelling, conceivable, conclusive, confirmed, conscientious, convincing, cool, credible, cumulative, damning, decisive, dependable, determinative, documentary, documented, evidential, evidentiary, ex parte, eye-witness, factual, fail-safe, faithful, faithworthy, fast, fiducial, fiduciary, final, firm, firm as Gibraltar, firsthand, founded on, grounded on, guaranteed, harmless, hearsay, honest, honorable, imperturbable, implicit, in equilibrium, incontrovertible, incorruptible, indicative, indisputable, inerrable, inerrant, infallible, invincible, inviolable, invulnerable, irrefutable, irresistible, material, meaningful, nuncupative, overwhelming, plausible, predictable, presumptive, principled, probative, proven, punctilious, reputable, responsible, riskless, safe, secure, significant, solid, sound, stable, staunch, steadfast, steady, straight, substantial, suggestive, sure, surefire, symptomatic, telling, tenable, tested, to be trusted, tried, tried and true, true, trustable, trusted, trustworthy, trusty, undangerous, unerring, unexceptionable, unfailing, unfalse, unflappable, unflinching, unhazardous, unimpeachable, unperfidious, unperilous, unprecarious, unquestionable, unrisky, unshakable, untreacherous, unwavering, valid, validated, verified, warranteed, weighty, well-balanced, well-founded, well-grounded, without nerves, worthy of faith