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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Plausible \Plau"si*ble\, adjective [L. plausibilis praiseworthy, from plaudere, plausum, to applaud, clap the hands, strike, beat.]
1. Worthy of being applauded; praiseworthy; commendable; ready. [Obs.] --Bp. Hacket.
2. Obtaining approbation; specifically pleasing; apparently right; specious; as, a plausible pretext; plausible manners; a plausible delusion. ''Plausible and popular arguments.'' --Clarendon.
3. Using specious arguments or discourse; as, a plausible speaker.
Syn: {Plausible}, {Specious}.
Usage: Plausible denotes that which seems reasonable, yet leaves distrust in the judgment. Specious describes that which presents a fair appearance to the view and yet covers something false. Specious refers more definitely to the act or purpose of false representation; plausible has more reference to the effect on the beholder or hearer. An argument may by specious when it is not plausible because its sophistry is so easily discovered.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
plausible
adjective
1: apparently reasonable and valid [ant: {implausible}]
2: likely but not certain to be or become true or real; "a likely result"; "he foresaw a probable loss" [syn: {probable}, {likely}] [ant: {improbable}]
3: within the realm of credibility; "not a very likely excuse"; "a plausible story" [syn: {likely}]
4: appearing to merit belief or acceptance; "a credible witness"; "a plausible story" [syn: {credible}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
67 Moby Thesaurus words for "plausible": acceptable, admissible, apparent, apparently sound, believable, casuistic, cogent, cogitable, colorable, colored, conceivable, conceivably possible, contingent, credible, creditable, deceitful, deceptive, disingenuous, empty, fallacious, fiduciary, gilded, hollow, humanly possible, illusive, imaginable, insincere, jesuitic, just, justifiable, legitimate, likely, logical, meretricious, misleading, ostensible, overrefined, oversubtle, philosophistic, possible, potential, presentable, probable, rational, reasonable, reliable, sane, seeming, sensible, smooth, sophistic, sophistical, sound, specious, tenable, thinkable, tinsel, trustworthy, trusty, unexceptionable, unimpeachable, unquestionable, well-argued, well-founded, well-grounded, wholesome, worthy of faith
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Definitions retrieved from local copies of the freely distributed DICT client/server software and databases. Click here for database copyright information. - KM |