Word.ws English Dictionary

suspension of disbelief

suspension of disbelief noun: the acceptance of people, for the sake of appreciation of art (including literature and the like), of what they know to be a nonfactual premise of the work of art.

Noun

suspension of disbelief (usually uncountable, plural suspensions of disbelief)

  1. (usually) The acceptance of people, for the sake of appreciation of art (including literature and the like), of what they know to be a nonfactual premise of the work of art.
    • In science fiction films, suspension of disbelief is essential.
    • On the other hand, Chikamatsu could induce a suspension of disbelief with the same means, thus producing an effect of reality within basic unreality. (The suspension of disbelief is, of course, nothing new to Western audiences.)1955, Donald Keene, “The Japanese Theatre”, in Japanese Literature, page 63

suspension of disbelief meaning in Thai

suspension of disbelief in Thai

people's acceptance of what they know to be a nonfactual premise
การระงับความกังขา gāan-rá-ngáp-kwāam-gāng-kǎ

Examples of suspension of disbelief in a sentence

  • All films require "suspension of disbelief" to work effectively.2010 June 17, John Landis, “John Landis on why Ray Harryhausen's effects are still so special”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
  • The topic of money requires the most awkward suspension of disbelief in fiction.2022 January 7, Jordan Calhoun, “The One Thing TV Characters Don’t Talk About”, in Humans Being, The Atlantic:

Synonyms of suspension of disbelief

Forms of suspension of disbelief

pluralsuspensions of disbelief

Origin of suspension of disbelief

Coined by English poet, literary critic and philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1817.

Questions about suspension of disbelief

What does suspension of disbelief mean?
Suspension of disbelief means the acceptance of people, for the sake of appreciation of art (including literature and the like), of what they know to be a nonfactual premise of the work of art.
What is suspension of disbelief in Thai?
Suspension of disbelief in Thai is การระงับความกังขา (gāan-rá-ngáp-kwāam-gāng-kǎ). See Suspension of disbelief meaning in Thai.
How do you use suspension of disbelief in a sentence?
All films require "suspension of disbelief" to work effectively.
What part of speech is suspension of disbelief?
Suspension of disbelief is a noun.
What is the plural of suspension of disbelief?
The plural of suspension of disbelief is suspensions of disbelief.

Words near suspension of disbelief in the dictionary

  1. suspensible
  2. suspension
  3. suspension bridge
  4. suspension bridges
  5. suspension dots
  6. suspension of disbelief
  7. suspension points
  8. suspension scale
  9. suspension scales
  10. suspension syndrome
  11. suspension trauma

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: suspension of disbelief (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “suspension of disbelief.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/suspension_of_disbelief. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.