Plausibility Meaning
/plˌɔzɪˈbɪlɪti/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe quality of deserving applause, praiseworthiness; something worthy of praise.
nounThe appearance of truth, especially when deceptive; speciousness.
Sentence Examples
He wants to demonstrate the plausibility of a new dictatorship coming to power.
Pervasive and pernicious deviations from both fact and logical validity lurked behind a meretricious plausibility.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The scientist doubted the ____ of the theory because it lacked evidence.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The detective questioned the ____ of the suspect's alibi given the timeline of events.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree New Latin plausibilitāsbor. English plausibility Borrowed from New Latin plausibilitās.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"integrity, fidelity, and other gracious plausibilities"
— 1668, David Lloyd, Memories of the Lives, Actions, Sufferings & Deaths of Those Noble, Reverend, and Excellent Personages that Suffered […] for the Protestant Religion:
"Plausibility, I know, can only be unmasked by shewing the absurdities it glosses over, and the simple truths it involves with specious errors."
— 1790, Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Men:
"She too must shimmer through the gloom o' the grave, / Come and confront me— […] / Striking me dumb, and helping her to speak, / Tell her own story her own way, and turn / My plausibility to nothingness!"
— 1869, Robert Browning, “XI. Guido.”, in The Ring and the Book. […], volume IV, London: Smith, Elder and Co., →OCLC, page 164, lines 1680–1681 and 1685–1687:
"The question of the plausibility of the counter-factual is seen as key in all three discussions of allohistorical fiction (as it is in Demandt's and Ferguson's examinations of allohistory) (cf. Rodiek 25–26; Ritter 15–16; Helbig 32)."
— 2014 October 14, David Malcolm, “The Great War Re-Remembered: Allohistory and Allohistorical Fiction”, in Martin Löschnigg, Marzena Sokolowska-Paryz, editors, The Great War in Post-Memory Literature and Film, Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG., →ISBN, page 173:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The scientist doubted the ____ of the theory because it lacked evidence.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The detective questioned the ____ of the suspect's alibi given the timeline of events.