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implausible

implausible

25 7.0
Not likely to be true or hard to believe
  • adjective
  • /ɪmˈplɔːzəbl/
: inverosímil
  • Her story seemed implausible, as it included too many unbelievable coincidences.
  • seems implausible
  • utterly implausible
  • highly implausible

So it's not implausible that that would have been the case in this position.

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Examples

  • His father-in-law's story struck him as even more implausible now than it had this morning.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • I know, it sounds completely implausible.

  • It's got to be so simple, it's really implausible that it works.

  • So it's not implausible that that would have been the case in this position.

  • And it just becomes implausible to discuss the whole thing in any detail.

  • Well, I admit that at first, it did seem somewhat implausible.

  • Every time I see a story about some new scare that's gonna give cancer to people, it's always completely implausible.

  • One might think the second scenario, where the environment trumps the economy, is implausible.

    Academic text (2011)
  • It is nonetheless not implausible to think that this might be true.

  • Tokusho's illness was unusual but not implausible, and the villagers nearly forgot about him.

    Fiction book (1998)

Synonyms

unbelievable
vsimplausible
492 4.9

Very surprising and almost impossible to accept as true

is similar but often implies a milder or more reasonable doubt
unlikely
vsimplausible
486 1.9

People do not expect it to happen or be true

also implies it does not seem reasonable not only low chance
absurd
vsimplausible
284 4.4

So silly or unreasonable that it makes no sense

is less extreme and focuses on lacking reason rather than being laughably ridiculous
unrealistic
vsimplausible
89 4.0

Not having a sensible idea of what can be done in real life

is used more for lacking plausibility in truth than for mere impracticality
preposterous
vsimplausible
65 7.3

Very silly and unreasonable so it seems laughable

is milder and simply means something seems unlikely or not reasonable
doubtful
vsimplausible
54 3.0

Not likely to be true or real

often expresses firmer lack of reason or likelihood than mere uncertainty
improbable
vsimplausible
51 4.9

Not likely to happen or be true

adds a sense of lacking reason or plausibility beyond low probability
farfetched
vsimplausible
13 7.5

Not likely to be true or believable

is similar but often used for less extreme lack of believability
chimerical
vsimplausible
  • Literature
1 9.9

Only in the imagination and very unlikely to happen

refers to unlikely ideas grounded in reality rather than pure imagination
noncredible
vsimplausible
1 7.2

Not believable or trustworthy

focuses more on seeming unreasonable rather than formal trustworthiness
short-fetched
vsimplausible
  • Archaic
8.9

Hard to believe because it lacks good proof

has identical meaning but is a rarer marked form
nonrealistic
vsimplausible
6.3

Not sensible or likely to happen

focuses more on lack of credibility or believability rather than mere impracticality

Antonyms

137 7.2

Seeming believable but possibly not true

How Believable

certain
286 1.0
credible
269 4.2
plausible
137 7.2
doubtful
54 3.0
implausible
25 7.0
absurd
284 4.4

Surface Forms

implausible positive
implausibler comparative
implausiblest superlative

Morphology

implausible = plausible (transparent) = im + plausible

The negative prefix 'im-' directly negates 'plausible' (believable), so the overall meaning is a straightforward negation.

Etymology

Implausible is made of im- meaning 'not' and plausible, which is related to the idea of 'applause' and the word applaud, so 'plausible' once meant 'worthy of approval'. So, implausible means 'not believable' or 'not likely'.