Credible and creditable: belief or praise?

The idea

Credible means believable or worthy of trust; creditable means deserving praise or respect.

Examples

• The witness gave a credible account of the accident.
• The scientist offered a credible explanation for the unusual results.
• Without evidence, the rumour is not credible.
• The young orchestra gave a creditable performance despite little rehearsal time.
• Finishing the race was a creditable achievement for the new runner.
• The volunteers made a creditable effort to clean the flooded library.

Watch out

A good performance is not automatically credible: use creditable when the point is praise.

Try it yourself

1. Choose the correct word. The journalist checked whether the source was ___ before publishing the claim. (credible / creditable)

   Show answer or example answer

   credible

   credible: The journalist needs a source that can be trusted.

2. Choose the correct word. The team made a ___ attempt to rescue the garden, even though some plants died. (credible / creditable)

   Show answer or example answer

   creditable

   creditable: The rescue attempt deserves praise despite the losses.

3. Choose the correct word. Her detailed evidence made the explanation ___. (credible / creditable)

   Show answer or example answer

   credible

   credible: Evidence makes the explanation believable.

Use it today

Describe one believable explanation and one praiseworthy effort.