Meanings
- idiomaticThis may be surprising, but it's true.
We're, believe it or not, in love with each other.
3 more examples
That depends on how long the sentence is. Believe it or not, there’s a canon of construction about provisos, and the test is anything but clear: …
2001, Bryan A. Garner, Legal writing in plain English: a text with exercises, page 108One common cause of “flipped bit” memory errors is, believe it or not, cosmic rays.
2003, Robert Bruce Thompson, Barbara Fritchman Thompson, PC hardware in a nutshell, page 230The descending opening phrase of the aria is, believe it or not, Tatyana’s Fate theme from her Letter Scene, though now in a minor, not major key: …
2007, David Brown, Tchaikovsky: The Man and His Music, page 165Synonyms: believe or not, surprisingly
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbThis may be surprising, but it's true.
Translations
Arabic صدق أو لا تصدق
- صدق أو لا تصدقThis may be surprising, but it's true
Chinese Mandarin 信不信由你
- 信不信由你This may be surprising, but it's true
Esperanto kredu-ne-kredu
- kredu-ne-kreduThis may be surprising, but it's true
Finnish usko tai älä, uskokaa tai älkää
- usko tai äläThis may be surprising, but it's true
- uskokaa tai älkääThis may be surprising, but it's true
French croyez-le ou non
- croyez-le ou nonThis may be surprising, but it's true
German sage und schreibe
- sage und schreibeThis may be surprising, but it's true
Hungarian ha hiszed, ha nem, hiszed vagy sem
- ha hiszed, ha nemThis may be surprising, but it's true
- hiszed vagy semThis may be surprising, but it's true
- akár hiszed, akár nemThis may be surprising, but it's true
Indonesian percaya atau tidak
- percaya atau tidakThis may be surprising, but it's true
Irish creid é nó ná creid
- creid é nó ná creidThis may be surprising, but it's true
Japanese 信じようも信じまいと, 信じられないかもしれませんが
- 信じようも信じまいと (shinjiyō mo shinjimai to)This may be surprising, but it's true
- 信じられないかもしれませんが (shinjirarenai ka mo shiremasen ga)This may be surprising, but it's true
Polish wierz lub nie, uwierz lub nie
- wierz lub nieThis may be surprising, but it's true
- uwierz lub nieThis may be surprising, but it's true
- wierzcie lub nieThis may be surprising, but it's true
- uwierzcie lub nieThis may be surprising, but it's true
Portuguese acredite ou não, acredite se quiser
- acredite ou nãoThis may be surprising, but it's true
- acredite se quiserThis may be surprising, but it's true
Scottish Gaelic creid sin no nach creid, creidibh sin no nach creid
- creid sin no nach creidThis may be surprising, but it's true
- creidibh sin no nach creidThis may be surprising, but it's true
Spanish lo creas o no, aunque usted no lo crea
- lo creas o noThis may be surprising, but it's true
- aunque usted no lo creaThis may be surprising, but it's true
Swedish tro det eller ej
- tro det eller ejThis may be surprising, but it's true
Tagalog sa maniwala ka o sa hindi, maniwala ka man o hindi
- sa maniwala ka o sa hindiThis may be surprising, but it's true
- maniwala ka man o hindiThis may be surprising, but it's true
Turkish ister inan, ister inanma
- ister inan, ister inanmaThis may be surprising, but it's true
Cite this entry
believe it or not. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/believe%20it%20or%20not
“believe it or not.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/believe%20it%20or%20not. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “believe it or not,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/believe%20it%20or%20not.
Source: believe it or not on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.