Unfounded

How to spell unfounded

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce unfounded

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does unfounded mean?

1. adjectiveNot based on fact, reason, or evidence; without justification.

Unfounded in a sentence

• The company dismissed the rumour as completely unfounded.

• Her unfounded fears about the flight delay turned out to be groundless.

Where does unfounded come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word is built on the verb 'found', meaning to establish or set on a firm base, which English took in the 1300s from the Old French fonder and ultimately from the Latin fundare, 'to lay the bottom or foundation of something', itself from fundus, meaning 'bottom' or 'base'. The same Latin root gives us 'foundation', 'fundamental', and even 'profound', all sharing the idea of a solid bottom. The negative prefix 'un-', a native Germanic element meaning 'not', was attached to the past participle 'founded' to describe a claim that has no base under it. By the 1640s 'unfounded' was being used in exactly its modern sense: an accusation, rumour, or fear that rests on no real evidence. The spelling trap is simply that the middle is the ordinary word 'found' (with a single d before the -ed), not a doubled consonant.

How the word is built

• un- (not)
• found (to establish, from Latin fundare)
• -ed (adjectival past-participle suffix)