PLAUSIBLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does plausible mean? 

• PLAUSIBLE (adjective)
  The adjective PLAUSIBLE has 2 senses:

1. apparently reasonable and credible, and therefore convincing

2. given to or characterized by presenting specious arguments

  Familiarity information: PLAUSIBLE used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PLAUSIBLE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Apparently reasonable and credible, and therefore convincing

Context example:

a plausible excuse

Similar:

arguable (capable of being supported by argument)

glib; pat; slick (having only superficial plausibility)

Also:

believable; credible (capable of being believed)

Antonym:

implausible (having a quality that provokes disbelief)

Derivation:

plausibility; plausibleness (apparent validity)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Given to or characterized by presenting specious arguments

Context example:

a plausible liar

Similar:

insincere (lacking sincerity)

 Context examples 

The response to withdrawal of the medical product (dechallenge) should be clinically plausible.

(Definitely Related to Intervention, NCI Thesaurus)

It sounds plausible, does it not?

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The most plausible explanation, according to Benneke, is that GJ 3470 b was born precariously close to its red dwarf star, which is about half the mass of our Sun.

(Atmosphere of Midsize Planet Revealed by Hubble, Spitzer, NASA)

I should be as ready to acknowledge his merits as any other man; but I hear of none, except what are merely personal; that he is well-grown and good-looking, with smooth, plausible manners.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Thanks to recent analysis of Cassini gravity data, the researchers concluded the only plausible source of the material forming the geysers is the sea now known to exist beneath the ice shell.

(101 Geysers on Icy Saturn Moon, NASA)

The more I tried to think it out with my confused and weary brain the less could I find any plausible explanation.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

At some point we were looking at increasingly less-plausible mechanisms, like if tectonic plates were rubbing against each other, could you get a plasma spark that generated phosphine?

(Poisonous Earthly Molecule May Be Sign of Extraterrestrial Life, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Using the recent NASA spacecraft observations of mineral deposits, the team estimates the most plausible amount will yield less than 5 percent of the required pressure, depending on how extensive deposits buried close to the surface may be.

(Mars Terraforming Not Possible Using Present-Day Technology, NASA)

Taking into account a range of plausible erosion rates, they calculated that it would have taken anywhere between roughly a hundred thousand years and a hundred million years for the ice to erode the crater to its current shape — the faster the erosion rate, the younger the crater would be within the plausible range, and vice versa.

(NASA Finds Possible Second Impact Crater Under Greenland Ice, NASA)

Among the most plausible target genes were B3GLCT and BLOC1S1, which could affect AMD-related cell functions such as signaling; the breakdown and disposal of unwanted proteins; and the stability of the extracellular matrix, the cell’s infrastructure for distribution.

(New study about genes linked to age-related macular degeneration, National Institutes of Health)