plausible

plausible: plausible, credible, believable, colorable, specious are comparable when they mean capable of impressing the observer, auditor, or reader as truly or genuinely possessing the quality or character that is set forth or claimed.

A thing or sometimes a person is plausible that is capable of winning acceptance, approval, or belief by its or his apparent possession of qualities which make it or him seem pleasing, genuine, or reasonable at first sight or hearing; the word need not definitely imply a false outside, or an intention to deceive, or a lack of soundness, but it usually connotes such a possibility, even though it also clearly suggests an ingratiating or mentally satisfying character

{
a plausible argument
}

{
the most plausible and persuasive confidence man of his day— S. H. Adams
}

{
that is a perfectly intelligible position, and it is plausible to the last degree— Lowes
}

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he learns that what is wanted is not an interesting or plausible story, but exact facts— Notes and Queries on Anthropology
}

A thing or less often a person is credible that seems to be worthy of belief or of being credited, sometimes because of plausibility, but more often because of its or his support by known facts or by sound reasoning

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a credible explanation
}

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a credible witness
}

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right reason makes that which they say appear credible— Hobbes
}

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a theory which denies the truth of one of our fundamental convictions about our own minds must have very strong evidence from other quarters to make it credible— Inge
}

A thing that is credible because it comes within the range of possibility or probability, or because it is in accordance with other facts that are known, is believable

{
his undergraduate characters . . . are all alive and believable. With his older characters he is less convincing— Havighurst
}

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a down-to-earth, rat- chasing, thoroughly believable wharf cat— Camper
}

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demand for . . . believable explanations— Fearing
}

A thing is colorable which at least on its face or outwardly seems true, just, or valid or which is capable to some extent of being sustained or justified

{
no colorable evidence has as yet been presented in support of this theory
}

{
the Chinese were given ... a colorable excuse for joining in the fight. The excuse, of course, was much more than colorable; it was morally and practically ideal— Purcell
}

A thing or, less often, a person is specious that is outwardly or apparently attractive, beautiful, valid, or sincere but that is inwardly or actually the reverse in character. Specious is the only one of these terms that clearly implies dissimulation or fraud or deceit or hypocrisy

{
specious picturesqueness
}

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specious piety
}

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a specious rogue
}

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they sanctified the worse cause with the specious pretext of zeal for the furtherance of the best— Cowper
}

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effusions of fine sentiments about brotherly love that are only a specious mask for envy and hatred of riches and success— Babbitt
}

Analogous words: smooth, bland, politic, diplomatic, *suave: likely, *probable, possible: unctuous, *fulsome, slick, oily

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Synonyms:

Specious, colorable, seemingly fair / Fair-spoken, glib, using specious arguments

Look at other dictionaries:

plausible — [ plozibl ] adj. • 1552; lat. plausibilis « digne d être applaudi » ♦ Qui semble devoir être admis. ⇒ admissible, vraisemblable. Caractère plausible d un événement. Cause, raison très plausible. ⇒ probable. « Ce motif n était pas le véritable,… … Encyclopédie Universelle
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. [1913 Webster] 2. Obtaining approbation;… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
plausible — PLAUSIBLE. adj. de tout genre. Specieux, qui peut passer pour bon. Il ne se dit guere que des raisons, des pretextes. Raison plausible. pretexte plausible … Dictionnaire de l'Académie française
plausible — [plô′zə bəl] adj. [L plausibilis < plaudere, to applaud] 1. seemingly true, acceptable, etc.: often implying disbelief 2. seemingly honest, trustworthy, etc.: often implying distrust plausibility n. plausibleness plausibly adv. SYN. PLAUSIBLE… … English World dictionary
plausible — ► ADJECTIVE 1) seeming reasonable or probable. 2) skilled at producing persuasive or deceptive arguments: a plausible liar. DERIVATIVES plausibility noun plausibly adverb. ORIGIN originally in the sense «deserving applause»: from Latin plaudere… … English terms dictionary
plausible — I adjective accepted, apparent, arguable, believable, cogitable, colorable, commanding belief, conceivable, conjecturable, convincing, credible, defensible, demanding belief, deserving belief, feasible, grantable, imaginable, justifiable,… … Law dictionary
plausible — (adj.) 1540s, acceptable, agreeable, from L. plausibilis deserving applause, acceptable, from pp. stem of plaudere to applaud (see PLAUDIT (Cf. plaudit)). Meaning having the appearance of truth is recorded from 1560s. Related: Plausibility;… … Etymology dictionary
plausible — [adj] reasonable, believable conceivable, credible, creditable, like enough*, likely, logical, persuasive, possible, presumable, probable, smooth, sound, supposable, tenable, valid, very likely; concept 552 Ant. implausible, improbable,… … New thesaurus
plausible — (Del lat. plausibĭlis). 1. adj. Digno o merecedor de aplauso. 2. Atendible, admisible, recomendable. Hubo para ello motivos plausibles … Diccionario de la lengua española
plausible — adj. 1) plausible to + inf. (it is plausible to assume that they will not accept our invitation) 2) plausible that + clause (it s plausible that most of the voters will not support this referendum) * * * [ plɔːzəb(ə)l] plausible to + inf. (it is… … Combinatory dictionary

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plausible

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