Credible evidence is evidence that's likely to be believed. A credible plan is one that might actually work, and a credible excuse is one your parents might actually believe. And just as credible means "believable", the noun credibility means "believability". (But we no longer use incredible to mean the literal opposite of credible, just as we no longer use unbelievable as the literal opposite of believable.) Since cred is short for credibility, "street cred" is the kind of credibility among tough young people that you can only get by proving yourself on the mean streets of the inner city.
We've received credible information about the group's location. She does a credible job of playing the famous singer.
Recent Examples on the WebWhile every candidate needs to meet a fundraising threshold to be credible, at a certain point additional spending does not create additional votes. Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 9 Sep. 2022 There are no credible news reports that Gabbard sent Pelosi a Venmo payment of $600.01, as other independent fact-checking outlets have also reported. Bayliss Wagner, USA TODAY, 2 Sep. 2022 Governments hang on his words without asking whether his threats are credible. Paul Roderick Gregory, WSJ, 24 Aug. 2022 The disclosure does not say whether Twitter acted on the US government tip or whether the tip was credible. Brian Fung, CNN, 23 Aug. 2022 That’s because there have been credible reports that Netflix will partner for ad sales with Google or NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast (CMCSK). Jon Markman, Forbes, 29 June 2022 According to several credible reports, Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro models will ditch the famed notch entirely. Yoni Heisler, BGR, 25 May 2022 The center of Illinois armadillo activity is Carbondale, and in the past 30 years, there have been only two credible reports of armadillos in Cook County (as well as two in DuPage County). Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 14 May 2022 Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this week, citing credible reports of attacks targeting civilians.NBC News, 24 Mar. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from Latin credibilis, from credere — see credence