Prob. somebody can explain the different semantic of the words:
authentic
credibly
plausible
_______
Well, these three words are in a kind of spectrum of believability.
Authentic - very believable to the point of certainty. Usually if you describe something as authentic you are referring to its origin - for example, an authentic Michaelangelo painting, for example, is one that was definitely painted by Michaelangelo, not a print or a copy. Authenticity (same root as author) refers to where the noun in question came from and how trustworthy that source may be.
Credibly - This is basically a synonym for believable. It is something that you think you can believe, and in different contexts the degree of certainty varies. Usually, if definiteness of information could be seen on a scale of 1-5 this would rate 3-4. Example: The police thought the anonymous tip was credible and decided to act upon it. Her explanation was credible, so I let the matter drop.
Plausibly - this is something that could be true, but is unlikely. For example, Her protestations that she got the disease from a blood transfusion were plausible, but it's far more likely that she got it from her partner, who's already sick. This is a near-synonym for possible - the difference is that possible doesn't make a judgement on the likelihood of the subject, whereas plausible does. By contrast, the difference between impossible and implausible is that something that is impossible can't have happened, but something that is implausible could have, but seems unlikely.
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