Meaning & use
credence
Last updated
UK/ˈkriːdəns/
US/ˈkriːdns/
Meaning
noununcountable
Belief that something is true, or the quality of seeming believable.
Grammar: Uncountable, used with give, lend or gain: lend credence to a claim.
Patterns
- give credence to something
- lend credence to something
- gain credence
Few people gave credence to the rumor.
The new evidence lends credence to her story.
The theory gained credence over time.
Common combinations
- lend credence to
- The photos lend credence to his account.
- give credence to
- I give no credence to gossip.
- gain credence
- The idea gained credence among scientists.
- add credence to
- His record adds credence to his claim.
- little credence
- Critics placed little credence in the report.
Synonyms and how they differ
- belief
- Belief is the plain everyday word, while credence is formal and usually linked to accepting a claim.
- credibility
- Credibility is how believable a person or source is, while credence is the act of believing.
- trust
- Trust involves confidence in a person, whereas credence concerns whether a statement is accepted as true.
- acceptance
- Acceptance is broader and can mean agreeing to anything, not just a claim of fact.
Opposites
Word family
- credible adjective
- believable
- credibility noun
- the quality of being trusted
- credit verb
- to believe or to give recognition
- incredible adjective
- hard to believe, or amazing
- credulous adjective
- too ready to believe
Commonly confused: credence or credential? credence or credibility?
credence vs credential
A credential is a qualification or proof of identity; credence is belief.
credence vs credibility
Credibility is how believable something is; credence is belief given to it.
Practice
The leaked emails added ______ to the reporter's claim.
Choose one answer.
Add credence to means make a claim more believable. Credit would need a different pattern, such as 'give credit to'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “credence”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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