What does credibility mean?
Credibility is the quality of being believable and worthy of trust. It applies most often to people — witnesses, journalists, experts, leaders — whose statements others must decide whether to accept, but it also extends to institutions, sources of information, and even evidence or accounts themselves. A person with credibility has earned confidence through honesty, competence, and consistency, while a claim with credibility strikes listeners as plausible and well supported. The word carries strong connotations in public life: politicians speak of a 'credibility gap' when their promises diverge from their actions, and scientists worry about the credibility of research when methods or data come under suspicion. Credibility is hard-won and easily damaged; once lost, it can be very difficult to restore. It derives from the Latin 'credere', meaning 'to believe', making it a close relative of words like credit and credential.
nounThe quality of being believable or worthy of trust; the extent to which someone or something can be relied on as honest and accurate.
- The quality of inspiring belief or trust, especially in a person's honesty, expertise, or reliability.
- The degree to which a statement, account, or piece of evidence is plausible and convincing.
"The whistleblower's credibility made the report impossible to dismiss."
"After the scandal broke, the senator struggled to regain her credibility."
"The witness gave a detailed account whose credibility was never seriously questioned."
Extremely rare; credibility is almost always treated as an uncountable noun, so no plural form is needed in ordinary use.
"Rarely seen outside technical contexts; avoid using a plural in general writing."
Every time you doubt a news story, you're doing what the ancient Romans did with 'credere' — deciding who deserves your belief.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of credibility
Credibility entered English in the late sixteenth century, borrowed via Middle French 'crédibilité' from Latin 'credibilitas'. Its root is the Latin verb 'credere', meaning 'to believe or trust', which also underlies related English borrowings such as credible, credence, credit, and credential. From its earliest use it denoted the quality of being worthy of belief, a sense it has retained essentially unchanged.
How credibility is actually used
Credibility is a formal-to-neutral register noun common in journalism, politics, law, science, and everyday speech. It is almost always used as an uncountable mass noun; it rarely takes an indefinite article except in evaluative phrases such as 'a credibility problem'.
Easily confused with credibility
Credence is the belief or acceptance itself (as in 'lend credence to'), while credibility is the quality of deserving that belief.