PLAUSIBLE • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Plausible

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/plˈɔzəbəl/ Listen

adjective

Plausible adj.

Worthy of being applauded; praiseworthy; commendable; ready. (Obs.)

Obtaining approbation; specifically pleasing; apparently right; specious; as, a plausible pretext; plausible manners; a plausible delusion. "Plausible and popular arguments."

Using specious arguments or discourse; as, a plausible speaker.

Synonyms: Plausible, Specious. Plausible denotes that which seems reasonable, yet leaves distrust in the judgment. Specious describes that which presents a fair appearance to the view and yet covers something false. Specious refers more definitely to the act or purpose of false representation; plausible has more reference to the effect on the beholder or hearer. An argument may by specious when it is not plausible because its sophistry is so easily discovered.

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Etymology of 'Plausible'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Plausible" Quotes from Famous Books

... it seemed to him that the word "trust" sounded idiotic. Then, to cover his awkwardness, he coughed, and even to his own rosy ears his cough was ostentatiously a false one. Whereupon, seeking to be plausible, he coughed again, and instantly hated himself: the sound he made was an atrocity. Meanwhile, Lucy sat silent, and the two Sharon girls leaned forward, staring at him with strained eyes, their lips tightly compressed; and both were but too easily diagnosed ...

— The Magnificent Ambersons • Booth Tarkington

... he purposed to spend the balance of his days in the dignified enjoyment of his hard-earned money. To this secluded oyster dealer, as solitary and happy in the midst of his new grandeur as a bivalve in its native bed, came a plausible stockbroker, who, after a series of interviews, persuaded Mr. Pillbody to make a small investment in the "Sky Blue Ridge ...

— Round the Block • John Bell Bouton

... a plausible story for the presence of Ferguson. Sooner or later the boys would have noticed the latter's absence from the outfit. Therefore if he advanced his story now there would ...

— The Two-Gun Man • Charles Alden Seltzer

... town, Pierrette was quite well; in the Upper town she was dying; at the Rogrons' she scratched her wrist; at Madame Tiphaine's her fingers were fractured and one was to be cut off. The next day the "Courrier de Provins," had a plausible article, extremely well-written, a masterpiece of insinuations mixed with legal points, which showed that there was no case whatever against Rogron. The "Bee-hive," which did not appear till two days later, could not answer without becoming ...

— Pierrette • Honore de Balzac

... fable; and it may be asked where is Friesland and the other countries which it mentions, to be found? Who has ever heard of a Zichmuni who vanquished Kako, or Hakon, king of Norway, in 1369, or 1380? All this is very plausible; but we think a good deal may be done ...

— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. 1 • Robert Kerr

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