unsubstantiate
unsubstantiate verb: to prove false; to disprove or discredit.
Verb
unsubstantiate (third-person singular simple present unsubstantiates, present participle unsubstantiating, simple past and past participle unsubstantiated)
- To prove false; to disprove or discredit.
- With this evidence, in addition to the findings of previous research, showing conclusively that it is not the pattern of courses followed by the student in the high school but his scholastic aptitude which determines his success in the college program, only one additional type of evidence is needed...1938, William Lawrence Wrinkle, The New High School in the Making, page 306
- Confirming rules substantiate or unsubstantiate the presumption diagnosis and therefore are not unavoidable.1990, Acta Oto-laryngologica - Volume 110, page 162
- To officially categorize (an allegation) as unsubstantiated.
- Stepwise logistic regression analysis was used to determine whether or not there was a relationship between specified factors and the decision to substantiate or unsubstantiate sexual abuse cases.1989, Dissertation Abstracts International: The humanities and social sciences, page 543
- In a memo dated, February 24, 1993, the Department of Social Services instructed its workers to "unsubstantiate" a case if the following were thought to be true:1996, Michigan. Legislature. Senate. Democratic Task Force on Protecting Michigan's Children, Monsters Aren't Only Under the Bed, page 8
- To call into question; to create doubt about.
- You bring down the high economy of heaven to the standard of human convenience. You pull the fabric of God's moral government to pieces; and unsubstantiate all the solemnity of His proclaimed sayings—all the lofty annunciations of the law, and of the prophets—all that is told of the mighty...1855, Thomas Chalmers, Sermons: Select Works - Volume 4, page 209
- And when they can really pick any hole in such characters, and unsubstantiate them, what a pleasure it is !1878, James Bowling Mozley, Essays, Historical and Theological
- To make insubstantial or abstract; unsubstantialize.
- Shakespeare's tendency to generalise, spiritualise and unsubstantiate was as great as his capacity to particularise and substantiate.1961, James Blair Leishman, Themes and variations in Shakespeare's sonnets, page 112
- He has been the powerful and effective organ of our Church; and when he goes, no wonder that many feel a void and blank which seems to unsubstantiate their Church, and make it no longer a home to them.1961, John Henry Newman, Charles Stephen Dessain, The Letters and Diaries of John Henry Newman
Adjective
unsubstantiate (comparative more unsubstantiate, superlative most unsubstantiate)
- Lacking substance; insubstantial.
- He thought of his parents and Mary with the tenderness of separation, and felt ashamed because he had neglected his mother's letter for this unknown, unsubstantiate Martha's.1921, Olive Mary Salter, Martha and Mary, page 43
- He steps over from Divinity unsubstantiate to spiritual substance just as he once descended into the world of matter.1931, Abdruschin, In the Light of Truth, page 216
- Unsubstantiated; unproven.
- This, however, was a case where the defendant (described in the file as a possible “fly-by-nighter”) made a quite unsubstantiate claim for the goods he was selling.1974, Law Reform Commission of Canada, Studies in Strict Liability, page 89
- The unsubstantiate slanders made by Teng Hsiao-p'ing can only expose his rapacious design of trying to reverse verdicts, settle accounts and carry out restoration.1976, Survey of People's Republic of China Press
Examples of unsubstantiate in a sentence
- The purpose of an investigation is to substantiate or unsubstantiate the reported need for protective services.2002, Pennsylvania. Dept. of Aging, Annual Report, page 12:
- In the context of East Asia, admittedly, the democratic peace thesis remains difficult to substantiate or unsubstantiate by empirical evidence.2007, Ulric Killion, Modern Chinese Rules of Order: Paradox of Law and Economics:
- The premises that unsubstantiate Matter, they would argue, unsubstantiate everything.1881, Alexander Campbell Fraser, Berkeley, page 91:
- My purpose in dealing with these images is to attempt to unsubstantiate any attached conception and preconception of the image, especially the stereotypes of interpretation.1995, Art Now Gallery Guide: International - Volume 15, Issues 1-2, page 327:
Forms of unsubstantiate
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | unsubstantiates |
| present participle | unsubstantiating |
| past participle | unsubstantiated |
| past | unsubstantiated |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more unsubstantiate |
| superlative | most unsubstantiate |
Origin of unsubstantiate
From un- + substantiate.
Questions about unsubstantiate
- What does unsubstantiate mean?
- Unsubstantiate means to prove false; to disprove or discredit.
- How do you use unsubstantiate in a sentence?
- The purpose of an investigation is to substantiate or unsubstantiate the reported need for protective services.
- What part of speech is unsubstantiate?
- Unsubstantiate can be a verb or an adjective.
- What is the past tense of unsubstantiate?
- The past tense of unsubstantiate is unsubstantiated.
Words near unsubstantiate in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: unsubstantiate (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “unsubstantiate.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/unsubstantiate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.