a/the ring of truth

An appearance or semblance of the truth. There is a ring of truth to what she's saying, but I'm not totally convinced. Everything he says has the ring of truth, so it's hard to tell when he's lying.

ring of truth, the

It sounds genuine. This term alludes to the practice of judging a genuine coin by its “ring” or sound, which dates from the days when coins had intrinsic value because they were made of precious metals. Frederick W. Robinson used it in a sermon in 1850: “Truth, so to speak, has a certain ring by which it may be known.”