Synonyms

believe

American

[bih-leev] / bɪˈliv /

verb (used without object)

to have confidence in the truth, the existence, or the reliability of something, although without absolute proof that one is right in doing so.

Only if one believes in something can one act purposefully.

verb (used with object)

to have confidence or faith in the truth of (a positive assertion, story, etc.); give credence to.
to have confidence in the assertions of (a person).
to have a conviction that (a person or thing) is, has been, or will be engaged in a given action or involved in a given situation.

The fugitive is believed to be headed for the Mexican border.
to suppose or assume; understand (usually followed by a noun clause).

I believe that he has left town.

verb phrase

believe in
1. to be persuaded of the truth or existence of.
  
  to believe in Zoroastrianism; to believe in ghosts.
2. to have faith in the reliability, honesty, benevolence, etc., of.
  
  I can help only if you believe in me.

idioms

make believe. make.

believe British

/ bɪˈliːv /

verb

(tr; may take a clause as object) to accept (a statement, supposition, or opinion) as true

I believe God exists
(tr) to accept the statement or opinion of (a person) as true
to be convinced of the truth or existence (of)

to believe in fairies
(intr) to have religious faith
(when tr, takes a clause as object) to think, assume, or suppose

I believe that he has left already
(tr; foll by of; used with can, could, would, etc) to think that someone is able to do (a particular action)

I wouldn't have believed it of him

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

believe More Idioms

More idioms and phrases containing believe

Usage

Spelling tips for believe The word believe is hard to spell for two reasons. First, because it can be hard to remember the order of the i and e. Sometimes people want to spell it beleive, which is incorrect. Second, because it is pronounced [ bih-leev ], which makes you think there may be a second i in the word, as in bilieve. How to spell believe: The easiest way to remember how to spell believe is with the classic mnemonic device: “I before E, except after C." Believ[ing] is an important part of "being alive", which reminds you that the first syllable is be, not bi.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of believe

First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English bileven, equivalent to bi- be- + leven, Old English (Anglian) gelēfan (cognate with Dutch gelooven, German glauben, Gothic galaubjan )

Explanation

If you believe something, you think it’s true. If you are easily duped then you might believe your little sister when she says a thief broke into the house and ate all your candy. Believe comes from old German words meaning to have trust. Belief doesn’t require proof, just acceptance. If you’re on a jury and the prosecution and defense present two different versions of what happened, you have to decide which side you believe. To believe can also mean having confidence. If you believe in me, it doesn’t mean that you think I’m real (unless I’m a ghost). It means you think I can do what I set out to do.

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Vocabulary lists containing believe

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

believe believes believed believing

The Lost Land Bridge Project team believe the potential for more future discoveries is high.

From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026

Experts believe the second one will not cause a high-magnitude flood.

From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026

They believe that this was intentional and premeditated, and I think they’re going to stand by those beliefs.

From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2026

The U.S. has entered a phase where economists believe the country doesn’t have to add many jobs a month to keep the labor market steady.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

Being ten that summer, he was even more willing to believe in miracles than I was.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck

Nash believes the growing population put pressure on humans to move ever more west and northwards.

From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026

When it comes to reasonable doubt, if a juror actually believes there’s reasonable doubt, that’s supposed to work in Lindsey’s favor.

From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2026

That said, he believes a key ongoing debate is the timing around when Oracle’s AI infrastructure spending will translate to revenue for the company.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 4, 2026

She still believes the smaller, more challenging films Telluride tends to champion have “genuine shots” in the Oscar race.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

“From what I witnessed at school, you are someone who floats through life, buoyed by the current, but who nevertheless believes himself to be swimming.”

From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman

Like Douglass, Lincoln believed the Founders regarded slavery as wrong and had tried to place it on a course toward “ultimate extinction.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

In an interview in July, Jeff Gattiss, Amazon's head of gaming, told the BBC he believed the rising cost of tech would mean people will turn to streaming games online rather than buying new consoles.

From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026

She believed that the world could change, that with work, we could change it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026

Radial glia are also believed to contribute to the unusually large expansion of the human cortex compared with that of other species.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 2026

With these explanations firmly believed by a mass of spirit practitioners, the Fox sisters’ lives and work continued.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

In that case, those believing in lower rates would be correct, but for a difficult reason — a major financial crash followed by recession or depression.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 4, 2026

“Get your rest, kid. I’ll always remember the last 7v7 you played and said, ‘Coach, thank you for believing in me.’

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026

Not terribly long ago, Cleveland mortgaged its future believing that Watson was its savior.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

His father, an artisanal miner, had proudly helped the 23-year-old prepare for the trip, believing he was going to work as a car import agent in Tanzania.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

Again, the argument would seem to be that I cannot prove that Mont Blanc is 4000 metres high, but believing it, on the authority of a map, has ‘proved to pay’.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023