Believe

To place confidence in someone's ability, character, statement, or chance of success.

Reach for it when affirming trust in a person when that trust can strengthen them

Good mentors believe their learners can improve without pretending progress is easy.

• everyday

  count on

  dependable future action is expected

  not when admiration without reliance is intended

• everyday

  trust

  reliance on character or judgment matters

  not when only a factual claim is accepted

• warm

  have faith in

  confidence persists through uncertainty

  not when available evidence should decide

• professional

  back

  support follows from the confidence

  not when belief remains private

• formal

  credit

  accepting a statement as true is meant

  not when encouraging someone's potential matters

• literary

  hold confidence in

  measured formal assurance suits the context

  not when plain conversation is preferable

• doubt
• disbelieve
• mistrust

• believe in yourself

  A handwritten card reminded her, 'Believe in yourself, especially when progress feels slow.'

• reason to believe

  The steady test results give us reason to believe the design is sound.

• truly believe

  I truly believe his patient approach will help the new class.

• Wiktionary, Verb sense 2: have confidence in ↗opens in a new tab · retrieved 2026-07-26

The definition and the example on this page are written here. The dictionaries above ground which meaning is being described, not the wording.