Standard Lemma guide

implausible

adj · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • CMU ARPABET: IH2 M P L AO1 Z AH0 B AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Not plausible; unlikely; dubious.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: unplausible

Antonyms: plausible

2

adjective

Meaning 2

having a quality that provokes disbelief

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • gave the teacher an implausible excuse

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: plausible

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

highly imaginative but unlikely

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a farfetched excuse
  • an implausible explanation

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: farfetched

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Italic *n̥- Latin in-bor. Middle English in- English im- English plausible English implausible From im- + plausible.

Across languages

Translations

14 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: невероятен (neverojaten) — unlikely
  • Bulgarian: неправдоподобен (nepravdopodoben) — unlikely
  • Catalan: inversemblant — unlikely
  • Czech: neplausibilní — unlikely
  • Georgian: არასარწმუნო (arasarc̣muno) — unlikely
  • Georgian: არადამაჯერებელი (aradamaǯerebeli) — unlikely
  • Georgian: დაუჯერებელი (dauǯerebeli) — unlikely
  • Georgian: დამაჯერებლობას მოკლებული (damaǯereblobas moḳlebuli) — unlikely
  • German: unplausibel — unlikely
  • Hungarian: valószínűtlen — unlikely
  • Russian: невероя́тный (neverojátnyj) — unlikely
  • Spanish: no / poco / nada plausible — unlikely
  • Spanish: inverosímil — unlikely
  • Swedish: osannolik — unlikely