credibility

credibility — noun

1. The quality that makes people trust what someone says or accept their claims as

1.nounB2
Definition

The quality that makes people trust what someone says or accept their claims as true, especially because of that person's honesty, knowledge, or past record.

Example

The scandal destroyed the senator's credibility with voters.

collocation: destroyed / damaged / undermined + credibility

Joon's careful research gave her credibility among climate scientists.

collocation: gave / earned + credibility

Common collocations
  • loss of credibility
  • damage credibility
  • undermine credibility
  • establish credibility
  • build credibility
  • lack credibility
  • credibility gap
Synonyms
  • trustworthiness

    focuses more on moral reliability than on factual believability

  • believability

    more informal; centers on whether something sounds true rather than on a person's general character

  • reliability

    stresses consistency and dependability over time; slightly broader in scope

  • integrity

    emphasises moral uprightness and honesty, not just whether claims are accepted

Antonyms
  • doubt

    the state of not being trusted or believed

  • discredit

    the loss or absence of credibility, often after a scandal

Usage Note

Credibility is an uncountable noun — it does not have a plural form and cannot be used with 'a' or 'an'.

Common Mistakes

The company has many credibilities.
The company has a lot of credibility.
credibility is an uncountable noun and cannot be used in the plural form.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words relate to the idea of being worthy of trust, but they differ in emphasis. Trustworthiness is the closest synonym and stresses moral dependability — a trustworthy person keeps secrets and tells the truth even when it is hard. Believability is narrower and focuses on whether a specific statement or story sounds convincing; a lie can have believability in the moment but no real trustworthiness. Reliability adds the idea of consistency over time — someone who is reliable shows up, delivers, and follows through. Integrity is the broadest and most formal of the four, connecting honesty with strong ethical principles. For example: a politician might lose credibility after a broken promise (trustworthiness), while a scientific paper loses believability if its data are flawed (believability). A colleague who always finishes work on time is reliable, and a judge known for honest rulings has integrity.

trustworthinessbelievabilityreliability ↗integrity ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • give credibility to
  • lend credibility to
  • call into question the credibility of
  • restore credibility

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Credibility comes from the Latin word credibilitas, which derives from credere, meaning 'to believe' or 'to trust'. It entered English through French crédibilité in the 1500s, first used in legal and theological contexts before broadening into everyday language.