credential
Americannoun
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Usually credentials.
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evidence of authority, status, rights, entitlement to privileges, or the like, usually in written form.
Only those with the proper credentials are admitted.
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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.
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anything that provides the basis for confidence, belief, credit, etc.
verb (used with object)
adjective
noun
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something that entitles a person to confidence, authority, etc
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(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
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The Things They Carried
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Astronauts
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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:
Guzman graduated from Grant and served as an assistant there for several years while going to Valley College, Cal State Northridge and National University to gain a teaching credential.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2026
But the network was skeptical of Mr. David, whose main TV credential was as a writer and performer on the short-lived, derivative ABC sketch-comedy series “Fridays.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
Still, she emphasized that students should be able to count on a degree or credential that they pay for making them better off.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026
There are so many ethical dilemmas in high school sports that earning a teaching credential or gaining life experiences from participating in sports won’t always provide a clear path on how to proceed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026
Lots of people work hard at skilled jobs but lack something—a degree, a credential, sometimes a union card—that would give them better pay and more job security.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
Open, where the number of credentialed content creators has doubled from last year.
From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2026
A traditional "family photo" of officials was taken Monday without Siluanov, and away from credentialed media, as European officials declined to appear in a picture with their Russian counterpart.
From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026
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
Days later the Pentagon updated its press rules, saying it would move all credentialed journalists to a workspace in an annex facility outside the Pentagon.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026
Identification card: An applicant requesting relief would be referred to a credentialed volunteer relief committee.
From The Great Steel Strike and its Lessons by William Z. Foster
Officials said the convoy began to move into the base before the credentialing process had been completed, and confirmed the journalists had been invited into the base.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
Shoppers who use AI bots powered by OpenAI to buy products will have their purchases secured by Visa’s network, security infrastructure and credentialing capabilities, the payments company said Wednesday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 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
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
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
They were credentialled, like Lord Martin Rees, an astrophysicist and the co-founder of Cambridge’s Centre for the Study of Existential Risk.
From The New Yorker ● Nov. 23, 2015
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
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