belief

belief
noun
ADJECTIVE
absolute, deep-seated, deeply held, fervent, firm, passionate, profound, strong, strongly held, unshakable, unwavering
genuine, sincere

She was strict with her children in the genuine belief that it was the right thing to do.

common, commonly held, general, popular, widely held, widespread
mutual, shared

They had a shared belief in the power of education.

growing
long-held, long-standing
basic, central, core, fundamental

the basic beliefs of Christianity

personal, private

I think the rights and wrongs of eating meat are a matter of personal belief.

rational, reasonable
irrational, superstitious
paranormal, supernatural
instinctive
naive
strange
conflicting, contradictory
erroneous, false, misguided, mistaken

I took the job in the mistaken belief that I would be able to stay in Philadelphia.

ancient, folk, traditional

The people still follow their traditional beliefs.

orthodox
cultural, moral, philosophical, political, religious, spiritual, theological

They were persecuted for their religious beliefs.

Catholic, Christian, pagan, etc.
… OF BELIEFS
set, system

Each religion has its set of beliefs.

VERB + BELIEF
espouse, have, hold

I have very firm beliefs about moral issues.

share

He shared his father's belief that people should work hard for their living.

adhere to, cherish, cling to, follow, hold on to, stick to

She clung to the belief that he would come back to her.

The party must stick to its beliefs.

abandon, give up, renounce
lose

She has lost her belief in God.

affirm, assert, declare, express, state

Here the apostle Peter affirms his belief that the scriptures are ‘inspired’.

emphasize, stress
encourage, foster, fuel

The exam results encouraged the belief that he was a good teacher.

confirm, justify, reaffirm, reinforce, strengthen, support, validate

This latest evidence strengthens our belief that the government is doing the right thing.

reconcile

an attempt to reconcile apparently opposite beliefs

contradict
challenge, question, shake, shatter, undermine, weaken

The child's death shook her belief in God.

respect

You must respect other people's beliefs.

impose

He tried to impose his beliefs on other people.

beggar (esp. BrE), defy

It defies belief how things got this bad.

BELIEF + VERB
persist

Belief in the magical properties of this herb persisted down the centuries.

BELIEF + NOUN
system
PREPOSITION
beyond belief (= too great, difficult, etc. to be believed)

Dissatisfaction with the government has grown beyond belief.

icy air that was cold beyond belief

in the belief that

She did it in the belief that it would help her career.

belief about

beliefs about the origin of the universe

belief among

There is a belief among young people that education is a waste of time.

belief in

a belief in God

PHRASES
contrary to popular belief (= in spite of what people think)

Contrary to popular belief, deserts are not always hot.


Collocations dictionary. 2013.

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  • Belief — is the psychological state in which an individual holds a proposition or premise to be true. [Citation last = Schwitzgebel first = Eric editor last = Zalta editor first = Edward contribution = Belief title = The Stanford Encyclopedia of… …   Wikipedia

  • Belief — • That state of the mind by which it assents to propositions, not by reason of their intrinsic evidence, but because of authority Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Belief     Belief …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • belief — be·lief n: a degree of conviction of the truth of something esp. based on a consideration or examination of the evidence compare knowledge, suspicion Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam Webster. 1996 …   Law dictionary

  • belief — 1 Belief, faith, credence, credit are comparable when they mean the act of one who assents intellectually to something proposed or offered for acceptance as true or the state of mind of one who so assents. Belief is less restricted in its… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • Belief — Be*lief , n. [OE. bileafe, bileve; cf. AS. gele[ a]fa. See {Believe}.] 1. Assent to a proposition or affirmation, or the acceptance of a fact, opinion, or assertion as real or true, without immediate personal knowledge; reliance upon word or… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • belief — (n.) late 12c., bileave, replacing O.E. geleafa belief, faith, from W.Gmc. *ga laubon to hold dear, esteem, trust (Cf. O.S. gilobo, M.Du. gelove, O.H.G. giloubo, Ger. Glaube), from *galaub dear, esteemed, from intensive prefix *ga + *leubh …   Etymology dictionary

  • belief — ► NOUN 1) a feeling that something exists or is true, especially one without proof. 2) a firmly held opinion. 3) (belief in) trust or confidence in. 4) religious faith. ● beyond belief Cf. ↑beyond belief …   English terms dictionary

  • belief — [bə lēf′, bēlēf′] n. [ME bileve < bi , BE + leve, contr. < ileve < OE geleafa: see BELIEVE] 1. the state of believing; conviction or acceptance that certain things are true or real 2. faith, esp. religious faith 3. trust or confidence [I …   English World dictionary

  • belief — [n1] putting regard in as true acceptance, admission, assent, assumption, assurance, avowal, axiom, certainty, conclusion, confidence, conjecture, conviction, credence, credit, deduction, divination, expectation, faith, fancy, feeling, guess,… …   New thesaurus

  • BELIEF — The Bible In the Bible there are no articles of faith or dogmas in the Christian or Islamic sense of the terms. Although trust in God is regarded as a paramount religious virtue (Gen. 15:6; Isa. 7:9; cf. Job 2:9), there is nowhere in Scripture an …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

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