Basic Details
Word: Believed
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Accepted that something was true, or trusted that what someone said was true. It is the past tense of believe.
Synonyms: trusted, accepted, supposed
Antonyms: doubted, disbelieved
How to Spell Believed
Syllables: be - lieved
Tricky part: The ie comes after the l, following the rule 'i before e except after c'. The word keeps one l and ends in -ved.
Watch out for: beleived, belived, beleeved
Memory tip: Never believe a lie: the word lie sits right in the middle of be-LIE-ved.
Usage Examples
Example 1: For centuries people believed that the Sun moved around the Earth.
Example 2: Nobody believed Arjun when he said he had spotted a leopard near the school gate.
Example 3: My grandmother always believed that warm haldi milk cures a cold.
Fun Fact
Believe shares an ancient Germanic root with the word love. The German verb glauben, meaning to believe, grew from the same root.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Three words in the list are spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of the misspelt word.
1. deceive 2. grievance 3. achieve 4. beleived
a) to make someone believe something false
b) a complaint about being treated unfairly
c) to succeed in reaching a goal by effort
d) accepted that something was true
Show answer
d) accepted that something was true. Believed is the one misspelt here: after an l it takes ie, while deceive keeps ei because it follows a c.
Word Connection
Choose the word opposite in meaning to believed as used in the sentence:
The jury believed the witness's account of how the scooter skidded on the wet road.
a) trusted
b) accepted
c) credited
d) doubted
Show answer
d) doubted. A jury that doubted the witness would refuse the account; trusted, accepted and credited all say it took the account as true.
Mingle-Mangle
The sentence contains a jumbled word. Choose the word it hides:
Few people in the village evbleide the old fisherman's tale of a giant fish in the lake.
a) believed
b) relieved
c) bewildered
d) beloved
Show answer
a) believed. Few people trusted the fisherman's tale, and evbleide gives exactly believed; relieved would need an r.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
bellieved
a) e
b) i
c) v
d) l
Show answer
d) l. Believed has a single l; drop the second one and the word is correct.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. If you believed in yourself, you ____.
a) were proud of how you looked
b) had confidence in your own abilities
c) preferred to work alone
d) talked about yourself all the time
Show answer
b) had confidence in your own abilities
2. A story that is hard to believe can be called ____.
a) believed
b) factual
c) credible
d) incredible
Show answer
d) incredible
