verisimilar

English

Etymology

From Latin vērisimilis, prop. vērī similis (“having the appearance of truth”), from vērī, genitive of vērus (“true”) + similis (“like, similar”); see very and similar.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌvɛɹɪˈsɪmələ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌvɛɹɪˈsɪməlɚ/, /ˌvɛɹəˈsɪməlɚ/

Adjective

verisimilar (comparative more verisimilar, superlative most verisimilar)

1. Appearing to be true or real; probable; likely.
   • 2012, Matthew Adams, “Losing It”, in Literary Review, section 401:

     Joyce's objection was founded in [...] a reaction to the doggedly linear, heavily patterned artifice of the nineteenth-century novel, the verisimilar credentials of which existed – so, at any rate, the argument runs – in inverse proportion to the conventionality of its narrative style.

2. (fiction) Faithful to its own rules; internally consistent.

Related terms

• verisimilitude
• verisimilarity
• verisimilitudinous
• verisimilous

Further reading

• “verisimilar”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “verisimilar”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.