Antonyms for belief

Grammar : Noun

Spell : bih-leef

Phonetic Transcription : bɪˈlif

Definition of belief

Origin : late 12c., bileave, replacing Old English geleafa "belief, faith," from West Germanic *ga-laubon "to hold dear, esteem, trust" (cf. Old Saxon gilobo, Middle Dutch gelove, Old High German giloubo, German Glaube), from *galaub- "dear, esteemed," from intensive prefix *ga- + *leubh- "to care, desire, like, love" (see love (v.)). The prefix was altered on analogy of the verb believe. The distinction of the final consonant from that of believe developed 15c.
"The be-, which is not a natural prefix of nouns, was prefixed on the analogy of the vb. (where it is naturally an intensive) .... [OED]
Belief used to mean "trust in God," while faith meant "loyalty to a person based on promise or duty" (a sense preserved in keep one's faith, in good (or bad) faith and in common usage of faithful, faithless, which contain no notion of divinity). But faith, as cognate of Latin fides, took on the religious sense beginning in 14c. translations, and belief had by 16c. become limited to "mental acceptance of something as true," from the religious use in the sense of "things held to be true as a matter of religious doctrine" (a sense attested from early 13c.).

noun putting regard in as true
noun something regarded as true

Example sentences :

They laid Paralus upon a couch, with the belief that he slept to wake no more.
Extract from : « Philothea » by Lydia Maria Child

She had a belief that her father's house was nicer than other people's houses.
Extract from : « Life and Death of Harriett Frean » by May Sinclair

So we voice our hope and our belief that we can help to heal this divided world.
Extract from : « United States Presidents' Inaugural Speeches » by Various

In Hal Dozier there was a belief that the end justified the means.
Extract from : « Way of the Lawless » by Max Brand

The less you understood the more credit your belief became to you.
Extract from : « The Conquest of Fear » by Basil King

"I am inclined to the belief that nature is the best preacher," Ashton remarked.
Extract from : « Life in London » by Edwin Hodder

This feeling was intensified by the belief that Swift, as a clergyman, was insincere.
Extract from : « De Libris: Prose and Verse » by Austin Dobson

It has been determined, however, that this belief has no foundation.
Extract from : « Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 3 » by Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences

Browning jeered at this belief, to be in turn contradicted by Swinburne.
Extract from : « The Man Shakespeare » by Frank Harris

Some critics, and among them Dr. Brandes, place it later, and they have some reason for their belief.
Extract from : « The Man Shakespeare » by Frank Harris

Synonyms for belief

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019