unfounded

U1N1F4O1U1N1D2E1D2

adjective

Having no strong foundation; not based on solid reasons or facts.

“an unfounded report; unfounded fears”

Similar
baselessgroundlessungroundedidlefootlessunjustifiedunprovedunproven
OriginEnglish founded ← Middle English un- ← Old English un- →
Less commonScrabble 14
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Meanings

adjectiveunfounded (not comparable)
  1. not comparableHaving no strong foundation; not based on solid reasons or facts.

    an unfounded report; unfounded fears

    5 more examples

    […] 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

    Synonyms: baseless, groundless, ungrounded, baseless, idle, footless, groundless, ungrounded

  2. not comparableNot having been founded or instituted.

    Even the great world as yet undiscovered, the cities as yet unfounded, and the history as yet unwritten, are lost: fallen from the beginning.

    1980, Helen Louise Gardner, John Carey, English Renaissance studies, page 268
  3. not comparableobsoleteBottomless.

    He makes this Glob so spacious and fair Unfix’d, unprop’d, unfounded any where, Hang, like a Water-bubble in the Air.

    1685, William Clark, The Grand Tryal, or, Poetical Exercitations upon the Book of Job, Edinburgh, Part 3, Chapter 26, p. 210
    1 more example

    […] from them I go This uncouth errand sole, and one for all My self expose, with lonely steps to tread Th’ unfounded deep […]

    1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 826-829

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveHaving no strong foundation; not based on solid reasons or facts.

Similar
baselessgroundlessungroundedbaselessidlefootlessgroundlessungroundedunjustifiedunprovedunprovenunsubstantiatedunsupported

More synonyms by meaning

adjectivewithout a basis in reason or fact

Similar
baselessgroundlessidleunwarrantedwildunsupported
Also see
baselessflimsygratuitousgroundlessidleissuelessungroundedunprovenunsubstantiatedunsupportedunwarrantedwild

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  3. Proto-Germanic*un-
  4. Proto-West Germanic*un-
  5. Old Englishun-
  6. Middle Englishun-
  7. Englishun-
  8. Englishfounded
  9. Englishunfounded

From un- + founded.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Basque funsgabe
  • funsgabenot based on solid reasons or facts
Bulgarian неоснова́телен, необоснова́н
  • неоснова́телен (neosnovátelen)not based on solid reasons or facts
  • необоснова́н (neobosnován)not based on solid reasons or facts
Catalan infundat
  • infundatnot based on solid reasons or facts
Chinese Mandarin 莫須有 /莫须有
  • 莫須有 /莫须有 (mòxūyǒu)not based on solid reasons or facts
Czech nepodložený
  • nepodloženýnot based on solid reasons or facts
Danish grundløs, ubegrundet
  • grundløsnot based on solid reasons or facts
  • ubegrundetnot based on solid reasons or facts
Finnish perusteeton, perätön
  • perusteetonnot based on solid reasons or facts
  • perätönnot based on solid reasons or facts
French non fondé, dénué de fondement
  • non fondénot based on solid reasons or facts
  • dénué de fondementnot based on solid reasons or facts
  • infondénot based on solid reasons or facts
  • sans fondementnot based on solid reasons or facts
German unbegründet, grundlos
  • unbegründetnot based on solid reasons or facts
  • grundlosnot based on solid reasons or facts
Hebrew חסר בסיס
  • חסר בסיס (khasár basís)not based on solid reasons or facts
Hungarian alaptalan, megalapozatlan
  • alaptalannot based on solid reasons or facts
  • megalapozatlannot based on solid reasons or facts
Japanese 根拠のない
  • 根拠のない (konkyo no nai)not based on solid reasons or facts
Korean 근거가 없는
  • 근거가 없는 (geun'geo-ga eomneun)not based on solid reasons or facts
Māori mākiri
  • mākirinot based on solid reasons or facts
Norwegian Bokmål grunnløs, grunnlaus
  • grunnløsnot based on solid reasons or facts
  • grunnlausnot based on solid reasons or facts
  • ubegrunnetnot based on solid reasons or facts
Polish bezpodstawny, bezzasadny
  • bezpodstawnynot based on solid reasons or facts
  • bezzasadnynot based on solid reasons or facts
  • nieuzasadnionynot based on solid reasons or facts
Portuguese infundado
  • infundadonot based on solid reasons or facts
Romanian nefondat, neîntemeiat
  • nefondatnot based on solid reasons or facts
  • neîntemeiatnot based on solid reasons or facts
Russian беспо́чвенный, безоснова́тельный
  • беспо́чвенный (bespóčvennyj)not based on solid reasons or facts
  • безоснова́тельный (bezosnovátelʹnyj)not based on solid reasons or facts
  • необосно́ванный (neobosnóvannyj)not based on solid reasons or facts
Spanish infundado, que no tiene ni pies ni cabeza
  • infundadonot based on solid reasons or facts
  • que no tiene ni pies ni cabezanot based on solid reasons or facts
  • infundamentadonot based on solid reasons or facts
  • sin fundamentonot based on solid reasons or facts
  • non fundamentadonot based on solid reasons or facts
Swedish ogrundad, grundlös
  • ogrundadnot based on solid reasons or facts
  • grundlösnot based on solid reasons or facts
  • obefogadnot based on solid reasons or facts
Turkish temelsiz, asılsız
  • temelsiznot based on solid reasons or facts
  • asılsıznot based on solid reasons or facts
  • köksüznot based on solid reasons or facts
Ukrainian безпідста́вний, необґрунто́ваний
  • безпідста́вний (bezpidstávnyj)not based on solid reasons or facts
  • необґрунто́ваний (neobgruntóvanyj)not based on solid reasons or facts
Vietnamese vô căn cứ
  • vô căn cứnot based on solid reasons or facts
Cite this entry
APA

unfounded. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unfounded

MLA

“unfounded.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unfounded. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unfounded,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unfounded.

Source: unfounded on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.