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to believe

to believe

536 1.5
Trust in a god or higher power
  • verb
  • /bɪˈliːv/
: creer
  • Do you believe in an afterlife or some form of spirituality?
  • believe in God

Well, they, they don't really believe in, in, in Satan.

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Examples

Synonyms

to believe in
vsto believe
∞ 1.7

To trust that a person or thing is good

is specific to faith in a religion rather than general trust
to hold
vsto believe
∞ 1.1

To believe something to be true

is about religious faith rather than general opinions or ideas

Idioms

225 4.4

Say this before a surprising fact that is hard to accept

believe you me
  • Informal
13 8.8

I promise that what I say is true

10 7.2

To be very surprised by what you see because it seems unreal

Not believe anything someone says

3 7.2

To be so surprised by something you hear that you cannot accept it

Phrasal Verbs

∞ 1.7

To trust that a person or thing is good

Pretend something is real for fun or play

To trust that chance affects what happens

Compounds

36 3.7

Imaginary and made to seem real for play or stories

20 3.2

Play in which people pretend and imagine stories and roles

How Faithful

to believe
536 1.5
to doubt
∞ 1.3
to disbelieve
15 4.7

Surface Forms

believe infinitive
believed past
believed past participle
believing present participle
believes third person singular

Etymology

Believe comes from old parts be- and lief, where lief meant 'dear' or 'beloved', the same idea you see in beloved. A helpful way to remember the religious sense is to think of holding a faith 'close'—so to believe in a religion is to trust it and keep it near your heart.