believed

verb

past tense of believe
1
as in accepted
to regard as right or true only the most naive car buyer would have believed the salesman's claim that the dealership was actually losing money on the deal

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in thought
to have as an opinion despite the horrors she witnessed and endured, Anne Frank steadfastly believed that "people are really good at heart"

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of believed This is believed to be the second hospitalization for Leo, who is known to be sporty and in good shape, with weekly tennis games and swimming. — Arkansas Online, 14 Oct. 2026 The 23-year-old was found dead in her apartment in neighboring Canton, located in the Boston suburbs, and is believed to have been pregnant with Farwell's child at the time, according to authorities. — Mark Osborne, CBS News, 13 Oct. 2026 The search for the missing crew members – believed to be Syrian and Egyptian nationals – is still ongoing as of Tuesday afternoon, the Bulgarian Interior Ministry told CNN. — Svitlana Vlasova, CNN Money, 13 Oct. 2026 The Unknown Gunmen is believed to be a group of separatists operating in southern Nigeria. — ABC News, 13 Oct. 2026 Bills and Rams players were coming off what many believed to be the game of the year so far. — Ryan Gaydos Outkick, FOXNews.com, 13 Oct. 2026 Two former police officers and their daughter were killed Sunday in their home in an affluent Northern California neighborhood in what authorities believed to be a double murder-suicide. — Iris Kwok, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2026 Industry analysts observe that if market participants believed crude transport could permanently rely on rerouting, alternative ports, and emergency reserve releases, oil prices should have pulled back meaningfully. — CNBC, 7 Oct. 2026 One argued against the cuts themselves, while another believed the changes could have been communicated more clearly to the public. — Sacbee.com, 6 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for believed
  1. accepted
  2. thought
  3. understood
  4. considered
  5. took
  6. guessed
  7. figured
  8. imagined
Verb
  • Harris accepted, then asked to co-write the screenplay despite never having tackled a feature script.
    — Davide Abbatescianni, Variety, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Araiza had already punted, but the Raiders accepted the penalty and pushed the Chiefs back into a fourth-and-9.
    — Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of accepted
Verb
  • That kind of visibility could introduce regenerative agriculture to sports fans who’ve never thought much about where their chicken comes from.
    — Ryan Brennan, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 Oct. 2026
  • On Friday, that thought process took another gigantic step, as those in charge of putting a product on television have all but signed the official paperwork to once again expand the college football playoff.
    — Trey Wallace OutKick, FOXNews.com, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of thought
Verb
  • These exchanges were consequential, but they could still largely be understood as a series of bilateral transactions focused on Russia’s war.
    — Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Foreign Affairs, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Market analysts and economists note the term premium is poorly understood and subject to interpretation.
    — David Goldman, CNN Money, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of understood
Verb
  • Anyone born in 1960 or later must be 67 years old to be considered full retirement age, according to the Social Security Administration.
    — Mackenzie Chase, The Washington Examiner, 14 Oct. 2026
  • That novel is often considered a historical novel by readers and critics, which is slightly baffling to me.
    — Yiyun Li, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of considered
Verb
  • The Brewers took a 5-4 lead on Garrett Mitchell’s solo home run in the sixth inning and added an insurance run in the ninth on Hamilton’s bomb.
    — Greg Rosenstein, NBC news, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Perhaps the squad took his ball-respecting mantra to its logical extreme, seemingly reluctant to sully it by smashing it into the net, with Chelsea recording the biggest xG underperformance in the Premier League during his brief tenure.
    — Conor O'Neill, New York Times, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of took
Verb
  • At that same Screentime event, anyone reading between the lines might have guessed that Sarandos was getting antsy with Netflix’s current low-growth status.
    — Matt Donnelly, Variety, 16 Oct. 2026
  • The security technology ditches the old-school password, which can easily be stolen or guessed.
    — Brian Westover, PC Magazine, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of guessed
Verb
  • Eventually, Universal figured the field in supporting was open enough to allow both contenders to co-exist.
    — Nate Jones, Vulture, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Ahead of Sunday’s matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs, the Las Vegas Raiders showed all the signs of a franchise that had, at long last, figured it out.
    — Pete Sweeney October 5, Kansas City Star, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of figured
Verb
  • The sense that a resume goes straight into a black box isn’t imagined – applications per job have more than doubled since 2022, and the average company now has 56% fewer recruiters to review them.
    — Owen Humphries, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Diego ended up being far more involved in the delivery than either of them ever imagined.
    — Robbie Owens, CBS News, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of imagined

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believe
believed
believer
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Cite this Entry

“Believed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/believed. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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