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Literature vocabulary · Core Concepts

Verisimilitude

Meaning in literature, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In literature, verisimilitude means: The quality that makes events and details seem believable within a fictional world's own conditions.

In Turkish: gerçeğe benzerlik, inandırıcılık

How it is used

Use in criticism to discuss believable details, even in invented worlds. It does not mean factual accuracy.

Example sentences

  1. The muddy boots and unpaid bills give the fantasy novel a sense of verisimilitude.

    Everyday details make the invented setting feel lived in.

  2. The critic questioned the verisimilitude of a child speaking like an experienced lawyer.

    The child's speech appears inconsistent with the age established in the story.

Common collocations

  • create verisimilitude
  • a sense of verisimilitude
  • RealismA nineteenth-century literary movement that aimed to show ordinary life and ordinary people accurately, without idealizing them, often with attention to social detail.
  • characterizationThe ways a writer creates and reveals a character's personality, through description, actions, speech, thoughts and other characters' reactions.

More terms: Core Concepts

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