Implausible

Not believable or credible; difficult to accept as true or likely.

adjective

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Imagine This

Imagine a detective hearing a witness's story that claims the thief vanished into thin air after a perfect crime. The tale sounds flashy but wildly unbelievable, and the detective raises an eyebrow at how implausible every detail is when checked against the evidence.

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Sounds Like

im-PLAWS-uh-buhl

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Looks Like

Looks like plausible with the prefix im- negating the meaning

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Remember This

Implausible is the opposite of plausible. The prefix im- negates the root word, which comes from the Latin plausibilis meaning worthy of applause; thus implausible literally means not worthy of belief or not credible.

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Other Forms

implausibilitynoun

implausiblyadverb

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Connect With

plausible, credible, believable, far-fetched

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Note

Use implausible to describe something that strains credibility but is not absolutely impossible. It is weaker than 'unbelievable' and should be chosen when there is doubt about believability rather than certainty of impossibility.

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Study Deeper

Examples

The witness's implausible explanation failed to convince the jury once the alibi was checked against the surveillance footage.
Claiming the city could run entirely on wind power next week is an implausible promise without a detailed plan and funding.

Synonyms

doubtfulfar-fetchedunbelievableinconceivableincredible

Antonyms

plausiblecrediblebelievable

Etymology

From plausible with the prefix im- (not). Plausible derives from Latin plausibilis 'worthy of applause' from plausus 'applause'; the English form plausible appeared via Old French plausible, and implausible adds the negating prefix im-.

Mnemonic

Im-plaus-ible = Not worthy of applause. Visualize a speaker on a stage, trying to earn applause, but the audience remains quiet—the claim is implausible.