verisimilitude

[ ver-uh-si-mil-i-tood, -tyood ]

/ ˌvɛr ə sɪˈmɪl ɪˌtud, -ˌtyud /

the appearance or semblance of truth; likelihood; probability: The play lacked verisimilitude.

something, as an assertion, having merely the appearance of truth.

Origin of verisimilitude

1595–1605; < Latin vērīsimilitūdō, equivalent to vērī (genitive singular of vērum truth) + similitūdō similitude

And the conceit of total artifice deprives us of what Tolstoy is best at: marrying artifice with verisimilitude.

‘The Trial’ & More Top Film Adaptations of Literary Classics (VIDEO) |Jimmy So |November 24, 2012 |DAILY BEAST
Meanwhile he secretly reflects upon the particular sort of calumny that will have the greatest degree of verisimilitude.

Human Intercourse |Philip Gilbert Hamerton
He gave to his figures a vitality and ease, and impressed upon them a verisimilitude which appeal to every spectator.

A Popular Handbook to the National Gallery, Volume I, Foreign Schools |Various
Not truth, but verisimilitude, is his aim; for the stage is the realm of appearances, in which intrusive realities become unreal.

Play-Making |William Archer

Certainly, it is never trammelled by any shackles of verisimilitude.

Intentions |Oscar Wilde
Italians like to write stories concerning historic incidents and to embellish them with a veneer of verisimilitude.

Idling in Italy |Joseph Collins

verisimilitude

/ (ˌvɛrɪsɪˈmɪlɪˌtjuːd) /

the appearance or semblance of truth or reality; quality of seeming true

something that merely seems to be true or real, such as a doubtful statement

C17: from Latin vērisimilitūdō, from vērus true + similitūdō similitude