Trúverðuga

Trúverðuga is the feminine singular accusative/dative form of the Icelandic adjective trúverðugur, which means credible, trustworthy, or reliable. The term is used to describe feminine nouns in contexts where credibility or reliability is being attributed to the object or entity in question. The root combines trú, meaning trust or belief, with verðugur, meaning worthy or deserving, yielding a word that signals worthiness of trust.

In Icelandic, adjectives agree with the noun in gender, number, and case. Therefore, trúverðuga appears before a feminine noun in the accusative or dative case. The broader adjective family also includes forms such as trúverðugur (masculine singular) and trúverðug (feminine nominative), among others, all conveying the sense of trustworthiness.

Usage and nuance: trúverðuga is commonly employed in journalism, academic writing, and everyday language to assess the reliability of sources, statements, or claims, as well as the credibility of people or institutions. It carries a generally positive connotation, indicating that something is sufficiently reliable to be trusted, though the strength of that assessment depends on context and evidence.

Related terms: trúverðugleiki (credibility), traust (trust), and traustsálfræði (trust psychology) are connected concepts often encountered in discussions of reliability and believability in Icelandic discourse.

See also: credibility assessment, ethics of sourcing, and linguistic studies of Icelandic adjective inflection.