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Glite Dictionary
seeing is believing

seeing is believing

5.3
People believe something only after they see it themselves
  • idiom
translation icon : ver para creer
  • She doubted the magician's skills until she saw the trick herself—seeing is believing.

Examples

  • If you don't think the cake is huge, wait until you see it—seeing is believing.

  • I always thought it was a myth, but seeing is believing!

  • I've heard rumors about the exhibit, but seeing is believing.

  • When it comes to magic tricks, seeing is believing.

  • I didn't believe the painting was that large until I saw it in person—seeing is believing.

  • He was skeptical about the claims made by the company, but after visiting their factory, he realized that seeing is believing.

  • Many people think the legend is just a story, but seeing is believing when you visit the site.

Antonyms

imagination
717 2.8

The ability to form new pictures and ideas in your mind that are not real

Surface Forms

seeing is believing main

Morphology

seeing + be + believing

The proverb states a direct causal link between 'seeing' (perceiving with the eyes) and 'believing' (accepting as true), so its meaning is transparently compositional from the constituent words. This simple, cross-linguistically common logic makes the intended meaning (that direct visual evidence convinces people) readily inferable for a B1 learner who knows the parts.

Etymology

Seeing is believing comes from a simple picture: seeing something with your own eyes makes you believe it. So the phrase means that only seeing something yourself will make you 'believe' it.