cred

American

[kred] / krɛd /

noun

Slang.

the quality of being believable or worthy of respect, especially within a particular social, professional, or other group.

If you wear this t-shirt, you’ll be earning geek cred.
Both chefs have plenty of Southern cred.

cred British

/ krɛd /

noun

slang short for credibility

street cred

"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

Etymology

Origin of cred

Shortened form of credibility

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.

In a market where a few tenths could make or break a car’s street cred, the auto-shifted versions soon became the only versions.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 6, 2026

But the company says it later struggled to compete with the street cred of brands such as Adidas and Nike.

From Barron's • Jan. 8, 2026

A place in the S&P 500 is a form of street cred for components, plus it means that funds tracking the benchmark index will have to buy up shares.

From MarketWatch • Dec. 8, 2025

Watching a Rajinikanth movie is less a screening than a carnival that is a heady mix of street cred, working-class pride, communal revelry and delirious joy.

From BBC • Aug. 14, 2025

The water in this lake is supposed to be sa- cred.

From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau

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