Benefit of the Doubt

Also: Give Someone the Benefit of a Doubt

Meaning of Idiom ‘The Benefit of the Doubt (to give someone)’

The benefit of the doubt the act of accepting someone as honest or assuming that they are truthful. To give someone the benefit of the doubt is to assume they are telling the truth or they are innocent because you cannot be sure they are not; to decide to believe or trust someone until you have a reason not to believe or trust them; to decide to view someone in a favorable way until you know more about them. ¹Kirkpatrick, Elizabeth M. The Wordsworth Dictionary of Idioms. Ware: Wordsworth, 1995.,²Heacock, Paul.  Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2010.,³Ammer, Christine.  American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.

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Examples Of Use

“I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you are telling me the truth,” said the principal. “But I better not see you in my office again.”

“We are used to giving our politicians the benefit of the doubt. It is time we learned to pay more attention!”

“Tom said that he was not gambling again although people are saying that he is. I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt until I know for sure.”

Origin

Used since the mid-1800s.

More Idioms Starting with G

• Use It or Lose It
• Umpteen Meaning
• Using ‘None Too’ In a Sentence
• Up and About
• Up to One’s Ears

More Benefit Idioms

More Doubt Idioms

• Doubting Thomas, a

More Give Idioms

• Give Someone the Cold Shoulder
• Give Me a Second/Minute
• Give Me Some Sugar
• Give Someone a Break
• Give Me a Break