Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
beggar belief. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
beggar belief, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
beggar belief in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
beggar belief you have here. The definition of the word
beggar belief will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
beggar belief, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Verb
beggar belief (third-person singular simple present beggars belief, present participle beggaring belief, simple past and past participle beggared belief)
- (intransitive, chiefly UK) To appear implausible or unbelievable.
- Synonym: beggar description
- It beggars belief to suppose that corporate policies can always pursue the best interests of a company.
1907, Sidney Lee, Shakespeare and the Modern Stage:In Shakespeare's day boys or men took the part of women, and how characters like Lady Macbeth and Desdemona were adequately rendered by youths beggars belief.
2021 November 17, “Network News: Anger at delegates' preferential treatment for Glasgow smartcards”, in RAIL, number 944, page 13:"It beggars belief that delegates are given smartcards for free travel around the city, yet ordinary Glaswegians will still be forced to use a disjointed ticketing system."
2022 September 23, 0:07 from the start, in As Putin goes for broke: What next after Ukraine annexation referendums? • FRANCE 24 English, spoken by François Picard, France 24, archived from the original on 27 September 2022:[…] We'll ask about turnout numbers that already beggar belief and what happens after Vladimir Putin's Friday address scheduled before a joint session of the Russian parliament.
Translations
Further reading
- “beggar belief”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
- “beggar belief”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- “beggar belief description”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
- “beggar belief description” (US) / “beggar belief description” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.
- “beggar description belief” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.
- “beggar belief beggar description”, in Collins English Dictionary.