2024/4/27 上午10:51 RELIABLE | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary

reliable    


Meaning of reliable in English

 

reliable
adjective

UK  /rɪˈlaɪ.ə.bəl / US  /rɪˈlaɪ.ə.bəl /

Add to word list 

B1

Someone or something that is reliable can be trusted or believed because he, she, or it works
or behaves well in the way you expect:

• Is your watch reliable?

• reliable information
• Gideon is very reliable - if he says he'll do something, he'll do it.

Opposite
unreliable

 Fewer examples

• What is the most reliable method of contraception?

• A great deal of effort has gone into making the software reliable.

• Price alone is not a reliable indicator of quality.

• We have reliable information that a strike is planned next month.
• This survey is considered to be a reliable barometer of public opinion.

 SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Related words

reliability
reliably

(Definition of reliable from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

reliable | AMERICAN DICTIONARY

reliable
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2024/4/27 上午10:51 RELIABLE | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
adjective
    
US  /rɪˈlɑɪ·ə·bəl /

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deserving trust; dependable:

• My car is old but it’s reliable.

reliability
noun [ U ] US  /rɪˌlɑɪ·əˈbɪl·ɪ·t̬ i /

• The reliability of this smoke detector is guaranteed.

reliably
adverb US  /rɪˈlɑɪ·ə·bli /

• His whereabouts were unknown, but he was reliably reported to be alive.

(Definition of reliable from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

reliable | BUSINESS ENGLISH

reliable
adjective

UK  /rɪˈlaɪəbl / US 
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reliable information or data is accurate or able to be trusted:

• Broker-dealers must use their judgment in assessing whether the issuer information is from a reliable
source.
• reliable information/data/evidence Currently, investors do not always have access to reliable
information when they need it.
• reliable figures/estimates/indicators The Consumer Price Index is a reasonably reliable indicator of
inflation.
• more/less reliable Research results are more reliable when they are independent of the person who
has conducted the study.

 

a machine, piece of equipment, or system that is reliable always works well without breaking
down: 

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2024/4/27 上午10:51 RELIABLE | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary

• Consumer demand for fuel-efficient, reliable vehicles is on the increase.

    
• People are often willing to pay a premium for a familiar, reliable service.
• While these disks function well as backup storage, they aren't reliable enough for long-term
archiving.
• more/less/the least, etc. reliable The hard disk on which data is stored is probably the least reliable
component in a PC.

 

a reliable person is someone that you can trust to work hard and do what they say they will
do:

• Employers want reliable workers.

• She's usually very reliable.

reliably
adverb /rɪˈlaɪəbli /

• At this stage, long-term costs cannot be reliably estimated.

(Definition of reliable from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

EXAMPLES of reliable

reliable
It is equally true, however, that the party's narrow class base rendered it an increasingly less than reliable
champion of democratic rights.
From the Cambridge English Corpus 

This provides smooth and reliable global motion paths which avoid local obstacles from the current position to the
goal destination.
From the Cambridge English Corpus 

In designing tasks, researchers need to worry about establishing reliable and valid measures.
From the Cambridge English Corpus 

Yet, over one-quarter of the women who visited family planning clinics selected the rhythm or other less reliable
methods.
From the Cambridge English Corpus 

A much simpler and more reliable solution than the unfortunate 'bleating lamb' effect that comes from attempting
single-note trills on the vowels!
From the Cambridge English Corpus


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2024/4/27 上午10:51 RELIABLE | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary

It centred around which material was more reliable: a mercury column or a wire of solid alloy.     
From the Cambridge English Corpus 

Trustworthiness of the engineers was also paramount in attempts to establish railway locomotives as a safe,
reliable, and cheap form of transportation.
From the Cambridge English Corpus 

The four subtypes we identified were reliable and presented coherent patterns of oral language skill development.
From the Cambridge English Corpus 

There were no reliable differences in this regard between the onset plus duration and onset only conditions.
From the Cambridge English Corpus 

The implication was that large cell assemblies are required to deliver reliable sensory signals.
From the Cambridge English Corpus 

These basic facts emerge both in the figures for the 1920s and 1930s and in the somewhat more reliable data for
1952.
From the Cambridge English Corpus 

The total consumption was then compared with import figures from the trade statistics to see whether the data was
reliable.
From the Cambridge English Corpus 

But it was unscholarly, in the sense that doubtful and questionable matter was accepted in an uncritical spirit and
interspersed among documents of reliable authenticity.
From the Cambridge English Corpus 

In the absence of reliable telephones, every step in the interview process requires physical contact with the
respondent, to book, reschedule, and keep appointments.
From the Cambridge English Corpus 

The proof uses reliable computations based on interval arithmetic.

From the Cambridge English Corpus 

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary
editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

What is the pronunciation of reliable? 

Translations of reliable

in Chinese (Traditional)

可信賴的, 可靠的, 真實可信的…

See more 

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2024/4/27 上午10:51 RELIABLE | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary

in Chinese (Simplified)     
可信赖的, 可靠的, 真实可信的…
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in Spanish
fiable, fiable [masculine-feminine, singular]…
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in Portuguese
confiável…
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in more languages 

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2024/4/27 上午10:51 RELIABLE | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary

More meanings of reliable     

 All

ultra-reliable
See all meanings

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