Meanings
comparative more reliable · superlative most reliable
- Suitable or fit to be relied on; worthy of dependence, reliance or trust; dependable, trustworthy
a reliable witness to the truth of the miracles
1855, Andrews Norton, Internal Evidences of the Genuineness of the Gospels2 more examples
the best means, and the most reliable pledge, of a higher object
February 18, 1800, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Report on Mr. Pitt's Speech in Parliament of February 17, 1800, on the Continuance of the War with France (published in The Morning Post)According to General Livingston's humorous account, his own village of Elizabethtown was not much more reliable, being peopled in those agitated times by unknown, unrecommended strangers, guilty-looking Tories, and very knavish Whigs.
1855–1859, Washington Irving, The Life of George Washington - computingSuch that either a sent packet will reach its destination, even if it requires retransmission, or the sender will be told that it didn't.
plural reliables
- Something or someone reliable or dependable
the old reliables
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveworthy of reliance or trust
adjectiveworthy of being depended on
adjectiveconforming to fact and therefore worthy of belief
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Arabic مَوْثُوق
- مَوْثُوق (mawṯūq)fit to be relied on
Bulgarian наде́жден
- наде́жден (nadéžden)fit to be relied on
Chinese Mandarin 可靠, 穩妥 /稳妥
- 可靠 (kěkào)fit to be relied on
- 穩妥 /稳妥 (wěntuǒ)fit to be relied on
Czech spolehlivý
- spolehlivýfit to be relied on
Danish pålidelig
- pålideligfit to be relied on
Dutch betrouwbaar, zeker
- betrouwbaarfit to be relied on
- zekerfit to be relied on
- getrouwesomeone to be relied on
- zekerheidsomething reliable or dependable
Esperanto fidinda
- fidindafit to be relied on
Finnish luotettava
- luotettavafit to be relied on
French fiable, sûr
- fiablefit to be relied on
- sûrfit to be relied on
German verlässlich, zuverlässig
- verlässlichfit to be relied on
- zuverlässigfit to be relied on
Greek αξιόπιστος
- αξιόπιστος (axiópistos)fit to be relied on
Hebrew אמין
- אמין (amin)fit to be relied on
Hindi निष्ठावान
- निष्ठावान (niṣṭhāvān)fit to be relied on
Hungarian megbízható, szavahihető
- megbízhatófit to be relied on
- szavahihetőfit to be relied on
Irish iontaofa
- iontaofafit to be relied on
Italian affidabile, sicuro
- affidabilefit to be relied on
- sicurofit to be relied on
Japanese 頼もしい
- 頼もしい (tanomoshii)fit to be relied on
Korean 믿음직스럽다
- 믿음직스럽다 (mideumjikseureopda)fit to be relied on
Latvian uzticams
- uzticamsfit to be relied on
Malay andal
- andalfit to be relied on
Māori haepapa, titikaha
- haepapafit to be relied on
- titikahafit to be relied on
- horopūfit to be relied on
Norwegian Bokmål pålitelig, troverdig
- påliteligfit to be relied on
- troverdigfit to be relied on
Polish niezawodny, spolegliwy
- niezawodnyfit to be relied on
- spolegliwyfit to be relied on
Portuguese fiável
- fiávelfit to be relied on
Romanian fiabil, sigur
- fiabilfit to be relied on
- sigurfit to be relied on
Russian надёжный
- надёжный (nadjóžnyj)fit to be relied on
Scottish Gaelic seasmhach, earbsach
- seasmhachfit to be relied on
- earbsachfit to be relied on
Slovak spoľahlivý
- spoľahlivýfit to be relied on
Spanish fiable, bienqueda
- fiablefit to be relied on
- bienquedafit to be relied on
- confiablesomeone to be relied on
- fiablesomeone to be relied on
Swedish pålitlig
- pålitligfit to be relied on
Thai ไว้ใจได้, เชื่อถือได้
- ไว้ใจได้fit to be relied on
- เชื่อถือได้fit to be relied on
Turkish güvenilir
- güvenilirfit to be relied on
Ukrainian наді́йний
- наді́йний (nadíjnyj)fit to be relied on
Vietnamese tin cậy, đáng tin cậy
- tin cậyfit to be relied on
- đáng tin cậyfit to be relied on
Welsh dibynadwy
- dibynadwyfit to be relied on
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with reliable
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
reliable. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reliable
“reliable.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reliable. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “reliable,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reliable.
Source: reliable on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.