Benefit Of The Doubt Definition & Meaning

Definition

Etymology

Examples

benefit of the doubt American

noun

1. a favorable opinion or judgment adopted despite uncertainty.

Etymology

Origin of benefit of the doubt

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Even with monster cloud-revenue growth of 48%, Alphabet hasn’t earned the benefit of the doubt around its rapidly rising artificial-intelligence spending.

From MarketWatch

“Try to give Israel the benefit of the doubt, okay? If he says he was being sincere, believe him.”

From Literature

And he said that while professional discipline—including potential disbarment—would have been appropriate, he would give Halligan “the benefit of the doubt” because of her unusual “inexperience” as a prosecutor.

From Slate

McPeake, for one, is giving them the benefit of the doubt.

From Barron's

Clegg said: "Although there were some concerns about this letter and the form it took, we were prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt."

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.