verisimilitude

/ˌvɛr.ə.səˈmɪl.ə.tuːd/ Formal / Literary

Say it: ver-uh-si-MIL-i-tood

noun The quality of seeming true or real, especially in a work of art, literature, or performance.
The historical novel was praised for its verisimilitude, capturing the atmosphere of 19th-century London with incredible detail.

📖 Seen in the wild

The author achieved remarkable verisimilitude in her historical novel by meticulously researching the period's customs and language.
collected by @vocablast

✏️ verisimilitude in a sentence

Despite the fantastical premise, the film's emotional verisimilitude made the audience care deeply about the characters.
The witness's account was so specific that it had the ring of verisimilitude, even if some parts were hard to believe.
Modern video games often strive for a high degree of visual verisimilitude, with photorealistic graphics and physics.
The play's cheap sets and awkward staging completely shattered any sense of verisimilitude for the audience.
In his analysis, the critic questioned the psychological verisimilitude of the villain's sudden change of heart.
For this ad campaign to work, we need to achieve verisimilitude; the actors should feel like real people, not models.
The author's painstaking research lent a powerful verisimilitude to the dialogue.

🔁 Synonyms & antonyms

realism authenticity plausibility credibility lifelikeness believability naturalism

realism · refers more to an artistic goal or movement, while verisimilitude is the successful effect of seeming real.

authenticity · implies being genuinely true to a source, while verisimilitude is about creating a believable illusion of truth.

plausibility · suggests something is believable enough to happen, while verisimilitude describes a richer, more detailed lifelike quality.

credibility · relates to the trustworthiness of a story's logic or source, not its textural, lifelike feel.

Opposites: implausibility, artificiality, improbability, falsity

🌱 Where it comes from

Verisimilitude walked straight out of Latin into English. It combines two Latin words: 'verus', meaning 'true', and 'similis', meaning 'like' or 'similar'. So, its literal meaning is 'likeness to truth', a sense it has kept perfectly to this day.

🧩 How it's used

Common patterns:

a sense of verisimilitudeachieve verisimilitudelacks verisimilitudestrive for verisimilitudehistorical verisimilitude

Verisimilitude is a formal word used mainly in critiques of literature, film, and art. It's important to remember that it refers to the appearance of truth, not truth itself. A story can be completely fictional but still have strong verisimilitude if its world and characters feel real and consistent. Don't confuse it with 'veracity', which means 'truthfulness' or 'accuracy'.

Word family: verisimilar

💬 Quick answers

What does verisimilitude mean in simple terms?

It means having the appearance of being true or real. It's the quality that makes a fictional story, character, or setting feel believable and lifelike.

What's the difference between verisimilitude and realism?

Verisimilitude is the effect of seeming real within a work, while realism is often an artistic goal or movement. A fantasy story can have verisimilitude (believable characters) without being a work of realism.

Is verisimilitude a formal word?

Yes, it is a formal and somewhat academic word. In casual conversation, you would be more likely to use words like 'believable', 'lifelike', or 'realistic'.

How do you pronounce verisimilitude?

It's pronounced 'ver-uh-si-MIL-i-tood', with the stress on the 'mil' syllable.

1 word nerd collected it V

Want "verisimilitude" to actually stick?

Save it to your own vault, let AI explain it, practice till it's yours.

Start for free →