credibly

credible +‎ -ly

credibly (comparative more credibly, superlative most credibly)

1. In a credible manner; believably.

   A suitor can credibly signal his love for a woman by offering her an expensive and extravagant gift.

   He waa in a position to commit to a credibly conservative monetary policy.

2. Used to report the speaker's assessment of the credibility of a reported statement
   • 1989, The New York Times Magazine‎, page 38:

     He [Mayor Koch] says he better understands the limits of government; less credibly, he says he has mellowed.

   • 1997, Vanity Fair‎, volume 60, page 95:

     His deep-set eyes and expression of general despair lend him a look of utter dissolution—very credibly, he is dying from sexual desire.

   • 2003, Stanley Wells, Shakespeare Survey‎, number 51, page 132:

     Perhaps less credibly she assumes that, as a necessary consequence of this move from the public space of the theatre to the private space of the closet, 'the emphasis shifted to subjective interpretation'

   • 2009, Anthony Everitt, Hadrian and the Triumph of Rome‎, page 289:

     In his eyes, if he allowed things to continue as before, he would be little better than a male prostitute. All too credibly, he could imagine himself aging into the superannuated gigolo of ]uvenal's satire.

   • 2013, Frank W. Brecher, American Diplomacy and the Israeli War of Independence‎, page 171:

     Perhaps, and more credibly, he meant that, had he been at the department, he would have ensured that the president expressly cleared that instruction.

• incredibly