Unfounded Meaning
/əˈnfaʊndɪd/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjHaving no strong foundation; not based on solid reasons or facts.
adjNot having been founded or instituted.
Sentence Examples
That's a completely unfounded rumor.
The allegations they made were unfounded.
Fear seriously harms health if it is unfounded.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The rumor about the mayor's crime was completely ____ and based on lies.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The rumors about the company's financial problems turned out to be ____, as it is actually doing very well today.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Germanic *un- Proto-West Germanic *un- Old English un- Middle English un- English un- English founded English unfounded From un- + founded.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[…] my chiefest design ever since the seventeenth year of my age […] consisted in elaborating such demonstrations in Natural Philosophy, as might serve to unfold the natures of Beings in relation to the Art of Physick, hitherto so uncertain, blind, and unfounded on Art […]"
— 1663, Gideon Harvey, “To the Reader”, in Archelogia Philosophica Nova, or, New Principles of Philosophy, London: Samuel Thomson:
"[…] such unfounded conjectures are best answered by neglect."
— 1798, Thomas Robert Malthus, An Essay on the Principle of Population, London: J. Johnson, Chapter 11, p. 61, footnote:
"The gloom of her first anticipations was proved to have been unfounded."
— 1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter XVIII, in Mansfield Park: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC:
"“He give a name,” said Mrs. Hall—an assertion which was quite unfounded—“but I didn’t rightly hear it.”"
— 1897, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, chapter 4, in The Invisible Man: A Grotesque Romance, New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC:
"[…] the allegation that his lordship never allowed Jewish people to enter the house or any Jewish staff to be employed is utterly unfounded […]"
— 1989, Kazuo Ishiguro, “Day Three, Morning”, in The Remains of the Day, Vintage International, published 1990, page 137:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The rumor about the mayor's crime was completely ____ and based on lies.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The rumors about the company's financial problems turned out to be ____, as it is actually doing very well today.