plausible

Etymology

From Latin plausibilis (“deserving applause, praiseworthy, acceptable, pleasing”), from the participle stem of plaudere (“to applaud”).

adj

1. Seemingly or apparently valid, likely, or acceptable; conceivably true or likely.
   a plausible excuse
   In short, the twin assumptions that syntactic rules are category-based, and that there are a highly restricted finite set of categories in any natural language (perhaps no more than a dozen major categories), together with the assumption that the child either knows (innately) or learns (by experience) that all rules are structure-dependent ( =category-based), provide a highly plausible model of language acquisition, in which languages become learnable in a relatively short, finite period of time (a few years). 1988, Andrew Radford, Transformative Grammar: A First Course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 64
2. Obtaining approbation; specifically pleasing; apparently right; specious.
   a plausible pretext; plausible manners; a plausible delusion
3. (obsolete) Worthy of being applauded; praiseworthy; commendable; ready.
   capable of receiving a plauſible Anſwer 1693, John Hacket, Scrinia reserata: a Memorial offered to the great Deservings of John Williams
   […] a coachman named Richard, who was described as a "sensible, well-behaved yellow boy, who is plausible and can read and write." 1955, William H. Townsend, Lincoln and the Bluegrass: Slavery and Civil War in Kentucky