credential
Americannoun
-
Usually credentials.
-
evidence of authority, status, rights, entitlement to privileges, or the like, usually in written form.
Only those with the proper credentials are admitted.
-
Digital Technology. information that identifies an account and keeps it secure, as username and password.
The IT department assigns temporary system credentials to new employees.
-
-
anything that provides the basis for confidence, belief, credit, etc.
verb (used with object)
adjective
noun
-
something that entitles a person to confidence, authority, etc
-
(plural) a letter or certificate giving evidence of the bearer's identity or competence
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of credential
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English credencial, from Medieval Latin crēdenti(a); see credence, -al 1
Explanation
A credential is something that’s proof of a claim you make about yourself or your skills. You might earn a credential in computer networking that lets employers know that you’re qualified to do the job. A credential can be a particular qualification that you earn or it can refer more generally to achievements or qualities that you’ve acquired over time. You’ll most often see the word credential used in its plural form: credentials. You typically refer to your credentials to show that you're qualified to do something. Your strong academic credentials might qualify you to work as an assistant at a hip magazine during the summer.
Vocabulary lists containing credential
Believe It or Not: Cred
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
The Things They Carried
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Astronauts
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
She said one of the agents pulled out a credential that identified him as an agent with Homeland Security Investigations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
But at the 2026 World Cup, there’s one credential more valuable than the rest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
Francis is Hegseth’s military assistant—and that’s his key credential as far as the self-named “secretary of war” is concerned.
From Slate ● Jun. 5, 2026
“Businesses, particularly those that collect and maintain sensitive personal and genetic data, can and should know to guard against” credential stuffing, the attorney general’s release said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2026
Claytor, who earned a PhD in math from the University of Pennsylvania in 1933, was only the third Negro in the country to obtain the credential.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
A Tribeca spokesperson said Savetsky was not in the film and was not credentialed by the festival, but was invited to the premiere by the film team.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2026
You can start with the IRS directory of credentialed professionals.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 1, 2026
Jonathan Alpert makes a good case that “No Kings” events are bad group therapy for the highly credentialed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 30, 2026
But also interspersed between the credentialed professionals are a gaggle of YouTubers, streamers, and TikTokers—with mounted iPhones—documenting the saga in real time.
From Slate ● Feb. 23, 2026
Her look was bold and reckless, and upon her countenance, where yet the contours of youth survived, were the finger-marks of old age's credentialed courier, Late Hours.
From Whirligigs by Henry, O.
When those pressures capture journals or entire fields, peer review can become less a filter for error than a credentialing system for fashionable nonsense.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026
North Carolina’s AI Academy at NC State, built with more than 100 corporate partners, combines university credentialing with applied workplace training.
From MarketWatch ● May 27, 2026
The tax bill also expands eligible expenses to include credentialing and licensing programs such coursework or tests to become a fitness trainer, a certified public accountant, or a lawyer.
From Barron's ● Nov. 25, 2025
He posted a list on X of what he called “press credentialing FOR DUMMIES: Press no longer roams free Press must wear visible badge Credentialed press no longer permitted to solicit criminal acts.”
From Salon ● Oct. 15, 2025
Pavri said 14 more CSU campuses are in the process of developing PK-3 credentialing programs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2024
But he still believed in creating literary projects unencumbered by the traditional press and its credentialled demands.
From The New Yorker ● Nov. 15, 2019
More than two hundred thousand people applied for one of the sixteen spots on Season 1, and throughout the show’s early years the candidates were conspicuously credentialled and impressive.
From The New Yorker ● Dec. 27, 2018
Compared with “live scribing,” this system is purportedly more accurate—since the scribes tend to be fully credentialled doctors, not aspiring med students—for the same price or cheaper.
From The New Yorker ● Nov. 5, 2018
The oracular voice of authority is being drowned out by the aggregated voice of the Everyman, the credentialled scholar dethroned by the anonymous Wikipedia contributor.
From Economist ● Apr. 14, 2016
Trying to save the crew was all that kept me credentialled.
From Nature ● Sep. 4, 2013
Following Friday's ruling, the PPA said in a statement to CBS News that it "celebrates the decision by a federal judge today that the Pentagon's press credentialling policy violated the US Constitution".
From BBC ● Mar. 21, 2026
The problem was that those with power were the ones determining how much credentialling was sufficient, making young people feel that they needed a degree, no matter the cost.
From The New Yorker ● Sep. 2, 2019
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
