- the inability or refusal to believe or to accept something as true.
- amazement; astonishment: We stared at the Taj Mahal in disbelief.
- the implicit convention requiring a reader, spectator, etc., to set aside their usual criteria for judging the reality or credibility of an experience in order to be be fully immersed in a fictional or fantastic reality:The absurd plot in the last episode stretched our suspension of disbelief to the breaking point. According to Coleridge, enlightened readers could still enjoy literature about the supernatural because of the phenomenon he named “willing suspension of disbelief.”
- refusal or reluctance to believe
