English verb: believe | |||
1. | believe (cognition) accept as true; take to be true | ||
Samples | I believed his report. We didn't believe his stories from the War. She believes in spirits. | ||
Examples | They believe him to write the letter | ||
Pattern of use | Somebody ----s something. Somebody ----s somebody. Somebody ----s that CLAUSE | ||
Broader (hypernym) | accept | ||
Narrower (hyponym) | bank, believe, believe in, buy, infer, rely, swallow, swear, trust, understand | ||
Antonyms | disbelieve, discredit | ||
2. | believe (cognition) judge or regard; look upon; judge | ||
Samples | I think he is very smart. I believe her to be very smart. I think that he is her boyfriend. The racist conceives such people to be inferior. | ||
Examples | They believe that there was a traffic accident | ||
Synonyms | conceive, consider, think | ||
Pattern of use | Something ----s something Adjective/Noun. Somebody ----s somebody | ||
Broader (hypernym) | evaluate, judge, pass judgment | ||
Narrower (hyponym) | consider, esteem, feel, hold, look on, look upon, reckon, regard, regard as, repute, rethink, see, take to be, think, think of, view | ||
3. | believe (cognition) be confident about something | ||
Samples | I believe that he will come back from the war. | ||
Examples | They believe that there was a traffic accident | ||
Synonyms | trust | ||
Pattern of use | Somebody ----s that CLAUSE | ||
Broader (hypernym) | anticipate, expect | ||
4. | believe (cognition) follow a credo; have a faith; be a believer | ||
Samples | When you hear his sermons, you will be able to believe, too. | ||
Pattern of use | Somebody ----s. Somebody ----s PP | ||
Broader (hypernym) | believe | ||
Narrower (hyponym) | misbelieve | ||
Domain category | faith, religion, religious belief | ||
5. | believe (cognition) credit with veracity | ||
Samples | You cannot believe this man. Should we believe a publication like the National Enquirer?. | ||
Pattern of use | Somebody ----s something. Somebody ----s somebody | ||
Broader (hypernym) | credit | ||