Meaning & use
suspend disbelief
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Meanings
phraseidiom
to accept that what you are reading or watching is real, even though it clearly could not happen.
Grammar: Used as a verb phrase with a subject: audiences suspend disbelief. It is not usually used with an object.
Patterns
- suspend disbelief
- ask someone to suspend disbelief
- the audience suspends disbelief
Viewers have to suspend disbelief when the hero survives a fall from a plane.
The acting was so good that I happily suspended disbelief for two hours.
If the story is too silly, no reader will suspend disbelief.
phraseidiom
to stop being doubtful for a while and enjoy something as if it were true.
Grammar: Often appears after 'willing to' or 'able to': willing to suspend disbelief.
Patterns
- be willing to suspend disbelief
- be able to suspend disbelief
The show works best if you are willing to suspend disbelief and go along with the joke.
She found it hard to suspend disbelief once she noticed the fake scenery.
Common combinations
- suspend disbelief
- Good fantasy writing makes it easy to suspend disbelief.
- ask the audience to suspend disbelief
- The director asks the audience to suspend disbelief from the first scene.
- willing to suspend disbelief
- Most children are perfectly willing to suspend disbelief.
- hard to suspend disbelief
- It is hard to suspend disbelief when the accents keep changing.
- suspend disbelief for a moment
- Suspend disbelief for a moment and imagine you can fly.
Synonyms and how they differ
- go along with something
- More general and informal; it means accepting an idea without arguing, not entering a story's imaginary world.
- accept
- Much broader and plainer; 'accept' covers beliefs and facts, while 'suspend disbelief' is about enjoying fiction.
Opposites
Word family
- disbelief noun
- the feeling that something is not true or is impossible to believe
- disbelieve verb
- to refuse to believe something
Commonly confused: suspend disbelief or suspension of disbelief?
suspend disbelief vs suspension of disbelief
This noun phrase names the state or the technique, while 'suspend disbelief' is the action: the film relies on a suspension of disbelief, and the audience suspends disbelief.
Practice
Which sentence uses the phrase correctly?
Choose one answer.
The phrase belongs with stories, films, or plays that are not realistic, so 'the audience suspended disbelief and enjoyed the impossible plot' fits. The other options use it for ordinary trust or excuses, where we would say 'did not believe' instead.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “suspend disbelief”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.