"Clear and convincing evidence" is a legal standard used in various court cases. It requires that the evidence presented must be highly and substantially more likely to be true than not. This means that the evidence must be strong enough to convince the judge or jury of its validity, leaving little room for doubt. This standard is often used in civil cases, such as those involving child custody or fraud. It is a higher standard than "preponderance of the evidence," which only requires that something is more likely true than not, but lower than "beyond a reasonable doubt," used in criminal cases.