unplausible

The witness gave an unplausible explanation for his whereabouts.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Lacking apparent truth or reason: "unplausible" describes something that does not seem likely to be true, reasonable, or believable; the opposite of plausible.
   • Lacking sincerity or trustworthiness: It can also describe a statement, argument, or person that does not appear honest or reliable.

Usage Examples

• (His excuse lacked any appearance of truth or reason.)
• (The testimony did not seem believable.)
• (Her behaviour did not appear honest or reliable.)

Advanced Usage

• "to find something unplausible": to judge that something is not believable or reasonable.

  • The jury found the defendant's alibi unplausible. (The jury decided the alibi lacked credibility.)

• "an unplausible claim": a statement that is not easily accepted as true.

  • The politician's unplausible claim about the economy was quickly refuted by experts. (The claim was not convincing or reasonable.)

Variants and Related Words

• Plausible (adj): the positive form, meaning seemingly true or reasonable.
  • Her explanation was plausible, so we believed her. (It seemed reasonable.)
• Plausibly (adv): in a way that seems reasonable or true.
  • He argued plausibly for the new policy. (He argued in a seemingly reasonable manner.)
• Plausibility (n): the quality of being believable or reasonable.
  • The plausibility of the story was questioned. (The story's believability was doubted.)

Synonyms

• Implausible: having the same meaning — not seeming likely to be true.
  • The movie's ending was implausible. (The ending was not believable.)
• Unbelievable: too extreme to be believed.
  • His tale of survival was unbelievable. (It was hard to accept as true.)
• Unconvincing: not making you believe something is true.
  • Her argument was unconvincing. (It failed to persuade.)
• Dubious: not to be relied upon; suspect.
  • The claim is dubious. (It is of doubtful truth.)

Antonyms

• Plausible: seemingly reasonable or true.
• Believable: capable of being believed.
• Credible: able to be believed; convincing.

Related Idioms

• A stretch: something that is hard to believe or accept.
  • Calling that story a stretch is an understatement — it's completely unplausible. (The story goes beyond what is reasonable.)
• Hard to swallow: difficult to believe or accept.
  • His explanation was hard to swallow, as it was so unplausible. (It was not believable.)

Usage Notes

• "Unplausible" is less common than "implausible," but both are accepted. "Implausible" is more frequent in formal writing, while "unplausible" may appear in informal or less strict contexts.
• The prefix "un-" directly negates "plausible," meaning "not plausible," whereas "im-" is a variant of the same prefix used before words starting with "p."