What is the difference between plausible and possible

That's what I thought. Thanks a lot! The key difference is that "plausible" refers to possibilities that are reasonable and it excludes possibilities that are unreasonable.

Something can be plausible but also unlikely to be true. It just means that there is a reasonable chance or possibility that it could be true, whereas 'possible' can also include options that are unreasonable i.

Highly-rated answerer. Possible vs. Thread starter SilentAdvocate Start date Mar 6, Hi, I haven't been able to figure out the exact difference between "possible" and "plausible". Maybe it's because of how similar they sound, but i don't really understand how different they are. But what about "plausible"? Would somebody please explain this to me? They didn't clear up my question though Old Novice Senior Member Massachusetts. SilentAdvocate said:.

The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Asked 10 years, 5 months ago. Active 5 years, 7 months ago. Viewed k times. I am looking to find the difference between possible and plausible.

Here is what Apple's dictionary gives for each word: Possible: Able to be done; within the power or capacity of someone or something Plausible: of an argument or statement seeming reasonable or probable I mean, other than these definitions, are there any connotative differences? Improve this question. Read more about these words […]. The Origins of Plausible and Possible When we understand the etymology of the words, the differences in their modern use becomes clearer.

Possible The word possible has also come to English from Latin via Old French and is derived from the Latin word possibilis. Again, it is not a direct indication of the truthfulness of the argument.

This story is becoming less plausible by the day. You could manufacture a plausible excuse for leaving early. It sounds plausible until you examine it. She could discern no plausible explanation for its disappearance. He did not think it plausible to explain all differences this way. Antonym: Implausible The opposite of something plausible is something implausible, meaning fantastic, unbelievable, unconvincing, or inconceivable.

Advances in medicine have made it possible for people to live longer. I desire to go on holiday, if possible.

A possible route up the mountain is via the West face. Antonym: Impossible Something that is impossible simply cannot happen. Both Words in the Same Sentence The following sentence using both words further illustrates the difference between plausible and possible: Her story on how they had reached the summit from the East face of the mountain sounded plausible to the others, but I knew it was not true because it was only possible to reach the summit via the West face. Image by Pisit Heng via Unsplash.