reliable

English

Etymology

From rely +‎ -able.

Pronunciation

• enPR: rĭ-līʹə-bəl, IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈlaɪəbəl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪəbəl

Adjective

reliable (comparative more reliable, superlative most reliable)

1. Suitable or fit to be relied on; worthy of dependence, reliance or trust; dependable, trustworthy
   • 1855, Andrews Norton, Internal Evidences of the Genuineness of the Gospels:

     a reliable witness to the truth of the miracles

   • February 18, 1800, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Report on Mr. Pitt's Speech in Parliament of February 17, 1800, on the Continuance of the War with France (published in The Morning Post)

     the best means, and the most reliable pledge, of a higher object

   • 1855–1859, Washington Irving, The Life of George Washington:

     According to General Livingston's humorous account, his own village of Elizabethtown was not much more reliable, being peopled in those agitated times by unknown, unrecommended strangers, guilty-looking Tories, and very knavish Whigs.

2. (signal processing, of a communication protocol) Such that either a sent packet will reach its destination, even if it requires retransmission, or the sender will be told that it didn't

Synonyms

• secure
• dependable
• trustworthy

Antonyms

• unreliable

Derived terms

• reliableness
• reliably
• semireliable

Related terms

• reliability
• reliance
• rely

Translations

fit to be relied on

• Arabic:

  Egyptian Arabic: امين (amīn)

• Armenian: վստահելի (hy) (vstaheli), հուսալի (hy) (husali)
• Azerbaijani: etibarlı
• Bashkir: ышаныслы (ışanıslı), яуаплы (yawaplı)
• Belarusian: надзе́йны (nadzjéjny)
• Bulgarian: наде́жден (bg) (nadéžden)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 可靠 (zh) (kěkào)

• Czech: spolehlivý (cs)
• Danish: pålidelig
• Dutch: betrouwbaar (nl), zeker (nl)
• Esperanto: fidinda
• Finnish: luotettava (fi)
• French: fiable (fr), sûr (fr)
• Galician: fiábel (gl) m or f, fiable (gl)
• Georgian: საიმედო (saimedo), სანდო (sando)
• German: verlässlich (de), zuverlässig (de)
• Greek: αξιόπιστος (el) m (axiópistos)
• Hebrew: אמין (he) (amin)
• Hungarian: megbízható (hu), szavahihető (hu)
• Italian: affidabile (it), sicuro (it) m
• Japanese: 頼もしい (ja) (たのもしい, tanomoshii)
• Khmer: អាច​ទុកចិត្ត​បាន (ʼaac-tuk cət-baan)
• Korean: 믿음직스럽다 (mideumjikseureopda)
• Latvian: uzticams
• Macedonian: доверлив (doverliv)
• Malay: andal (ms)
• Maori: haepapa, titikaha
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: pålitelig (no), troverdig (no)

  Nynorsk: påliteleg, truverdig

• Polish: niezawodny (pl), spolegliwy (pl)
• Portuguese: fiável (pt)
• Romanian: fiabil (ro) m, sigur (ro) m
• Russian: надёжный (ru) (nadjóžnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: seasmhach, earbsach
• Serbo-Croatian: pouzdan (sh)
• Slovak: spoľahlivý
• Spanish: fiable (es), confiable (es)
• Swedish: pålitlig (sv)
• Thai: ไว้ใจได้, เชื่อถือได้
• Turkish: güvenilir (tr)
• Turkmen: ygtybarly
• Ukrainian: наді́йний (nadíjnyj)
• Vietnamese: tin cậy (vi), đáng tin cậy
• West Frisian: fertroud

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} reliabel (id)

See also

• Reliability on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Noun

reliable (plural reliables)

1. Something or someone reliable or dependable

   the old reliables

Translations

someone to be relied on

• Dutch: getrouwe (nl) m
• Spanish: confiable (es) m, fiable (es) m

something reliable or dependable

• Dutch: zekerheid (nl)

Anagrams

• Abrielle, Bellaire, lieberal