Meaning of reliable in English

reliable

adjective

/rɪˈlaɪ.ə.bəl/ us

/rɪˈlaɪ.ə.bəl/

Someone or something that is reliable can be trusted or believed because he, she, or it works or behaves well in the way you expect:

Is your watch reliable?

reliable information

Gideon is very reliable - if he says he'll do something, he'll do it.

Opposite

unreliable

More examplesFewer examples

What is the most reliable method of contraception?
A great deal of effort has gone into making the software reliable.
Price alone is not a reliable indicator of quality.
We have reliable information that a strike is planned next month.
This survey is considered to be a reliable barometer of public opinion.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Loyal, faithful & dependable

See more results »

Related words

reliability

reliably

(Definition of reliable from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

reliable | American Dictionary

reliable

adjective

/rɪˈlɑɪ·ə·bəl/

deserving trust; dependable:

My car is old but it’s reliable.

reliability

noun [ U ] us

/rɪˌlɑɪ·əˈbɪl·ɪ·t̬i/

The reliability of this smoke detector is guaranteed.

reliably

adverb us

/rɪˈlɑɪ·ə·bli/

His whereabouts were unknown, but he was reliably reported to be alive.

(Definition of reliable from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

reliable | Business English

reliable

adjective

/rɪˈlaɪəbl/ us

reliable information or data is accurate or able to be trusted:

Broker-dealers must use their judgment in assessing whether the issuer information is from a reliable source.

reliable information/data/evidence Currently, investors do not always have access to reliable information when they need it.

reliable figures/estimates/indicators The Consumer Price Index is a reasonably reliable indicator of inflation.

more/less reliable Research results are more reliable when they are independent of the person who has conducted the study.

a machine, piece of equipment, or system that is reliable always works well without breaking down:

Consumer demand for fuel-efficient, reliable vehicles is on the increase.

People are often willing to pay a premium for a familiar, reliable service.

While these disks function well as backup storage, they aren't reliable enough for long-term archiving.

more/less/the least, etc. reliable The hard disk on which data is stored is probably the least reliable component in a PC.

a reliable person is someone that you can trust to work hard and do what they say they will do:

Employers want reliable workers.

She's usually very reliable.

reliably

adverb /rɪˈlaɪəbli/

At this stage, long-term costs cannot be reliably estimated.

(Definition of reliable from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of reliable

reliable

It is equally true, however, that the party's narrow class base rendered it an increasingly less than reliable champion of democratic rights.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

This provides smooth and reliable global motion paths which avoid local obstacles from the current position to the goal destination.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In designing tasks, researchers need to worry about establishing reliable and valid measures.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Yet, over one-quarter of the women who visited family planning clinics selected the rhythm or other less reliable methods.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

A much simpler and more reliable solution than the unfortunate 'bleating lamb' effect that comes from attempting single-note trills on the vowels!

From the Cambridge English Corpus

It centred around which material was more reliable: a mercury column or a wire of solid alloy.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Trustworthiness of the engineers was also paramount in attempts to establish railway locomotives as a safe, reliable, and cheap form of transportation.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The four subtypes we identified were reliable and presented coherent patterns of oral language skill development.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

There were no reliable differences in this regard between the onset plus duration and onset only conditions.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The implication was that large cell assemblies are required to deliver reliable sensory signals.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

These basic facts emerge both in the figures for the 1920s and 1930s and in the somewhat more reliable data for 1952.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The total consumption was then compared with import figures from the trade statistics to see whether the data was reliable.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

But it was unscholarly, in the sense that doubtful and questionable matter was accepted in an uncritical spirit and interspersed among documents of reliable authenticity.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In the absence of reliable telephones, every step in the interview process requires physical contact with the respondent, to book, reschedule, and keep appointments.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The proof uses reliable computations based on interval arithmetic.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Translations of reliable

in Chinese (Traditional)

可信賴的, 可靠的, 真實可信的…

Meaning of reliable in English

Related words

reliable | American Dictionary

reliability

reliably

reliable | Business English

reliably

Examples of reliable

Translations of reliable

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