Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The quality of appearing to be true or real. synonym: truth.
- noun Something that has the appearance of being true or real.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The quality or state of being verisimilar; the appearance of truth; probability; likelihood: as, the verisimilitude of a story.
- noun That which is verisimilar; that which has the appearance of a verity or fact.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The quality or state of being verisimilar; the appearance of truth; probability; likelihood.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun the property of seeming
true , of resembling reality; resemblance to reality,realism - noun a
statement which merelyappears to betrue
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the appearance of truth; the quality of seeming to be true
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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In science fiction this verisimilitude is achieved by using explanations, (or simply terms and phrases that hint of explanations) that fit into the scientific world-view: 'hyperspace' is a valid setting for a science fiction scene, but 'heaven' is not.
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Where the story of the Guardians lacks in verisimilitude and its painfully similarity to the plot of Avatar (the plight of the Ga'Hoole tree dwellers cum Na'vi tree of life), it makes up for in being a fulfilling excuse for 3-D.
Kathleen Osborn: The Winged Warriors of Ga'Hoole: Owl Movie Is a Sobering Elixir in 3-D Kathleen Osborn 2010
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The effectiveness lies in verisimilitude, and this is a vital point.
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The effectiveness lies in verisimilitude, and this is a vital point.
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Where the story of the Guardians lacks in verisimilitude and its painfully similarity to the plot of Avatar (the plight of the Ga'Hoole tree dwellers cum Na'vi tree of life), it makes up for in being a fulfilling excuse for 3-D.
Kathleen Osborn: The Winged Warriors of Ga'Hoole: Owl Movie Is a Sobering Elixir in 3-D Kathleen Osborn 2010
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"Negotiation and solidarity are the twin subjects of this quietly impressive docudrama, and Mungiu's commitment to verisimilitude is so scrupulous that he deliberately introduces the equivalent of Chekhov's famed gun without the slightest intention of providing a final-act payoff."
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Thirdly, verisimilitude is a very slippery concept philosophically speaking anyway.
The Aesthetics of Fat Hal Duncan 2007
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Firstly, verisimilitude is a scientific value, one deeply embedded in the philosophy of science and crudely defined for SF as the desire to write a piece where everything is technically correct from the standpoint of contemporary scientific theory.
The Aesthetics of Fat Hal Duncan 2007
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You have to admire any woman who uses the word verisimilitude correctly, and I'm not just saying that because she reads the blog and I want to have sex with her.
The Thunder Run 2008
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In my experience, the key feature here is "verisimilitude"--the illusion of truth.
stloup77 commented on the word verisimilitude
When this word entered the annals of philosophy over half a century ago, no one would have anticipated that the word would come to describe a chasm captivating a generation of tv watchers.
March 1, 2007
spicolli commented on the word verisimilitude
One of the Top Ten Words That Sound Great When Spoken by James Earl Jones
April 20, 2007
uselessness commented on the word verisimilitude
I personally like my list better than Letterman's namby-pamby thing.
April 20, 2007
milosrdenstvi commented on the word verisimilitude
Of course, the most famous usage of it in literature:
"Corroborative detail intended to provide artistic verisimilitude to an otherwise bald and unconvincing narrative."
-- W.S. Gilbert, "The Mikado"
July 4, 2008
swimsuitissue commented on the word verisimilitude
I love the Teenage Fanclub song by the same name:
"I don't need an attitude
Rebellion is a platitude
I only hope the verse is good
I hate verisimilitude"
January 10, 2009
isoglossian commented on the word verisimilitude
I always wonder if there is some kind of word-formation technique corresponding to this word. I'll be verihappy if there is~
May 17, 2009
100000232338334 commented on the word verisimilitude
"I carried it behind the screen that concealed the hair-washing area, and wiped at a perfectly clean area just for verisimilitude..." -Club Dead, by Charlaine Harris
February 5, 2011
pradyumnaojha commented on the word verisimilitude
Curent day politicians are good at presenting facts which are verisimilitude.
February 18, 2013
RevBrently commented on the word verisimilitude
From pp. 57-58 of Patrick Leigh Fermor's "A Time to Keep Silence":
The Trappist life...by any normal criterion, is sombre and stern. But legend...has smothered its stark outlines with ivy-leaves of a still more baleful tinct. According to a rumor widespread in France, Trappist monks greet each other daily with the words Frère il faut mourir, and a mythical agendum in the duties of a monk is the digging of his own tomb, a few spadefuls a day... Many aspects of Trappist life lend additional verisimilitude.
January 21, 2014