substantiate

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verb sub·stan·ti·ate \səb-ˈstan(t)-shē-ˌāt\

Definition of substantiate

substantiated

;

substantiating

transitive verb
1 : to give substance or form to : embody
2 : to establish by proof or competent evidence : verify substantiate a charge

substantiation

play \-ˌstan(t)-shē-ˈā-shən\ noun

substantiative

play \-ˈstan(t)-shē-ˌā-tiv\ adjective

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See substantiate defined for kids

Examples of substantiate in a Sentence

substantiated his claim to local mountaineering fame with a photo of himself on the summit of Mount McKinley
Mr. MacGregor couldn't substantiate that it was Peter, and not some other rabbit, in the cabbage patch.

Recent Examples of substantiate from the Web

A spokesperson for the housecleaning app Handy said that in 2016, more than 500 users submitted substantiated claims of theft to the company.

— hannah seligson, Cosmopolitan, "Your Mobile Apps Are More Dangerous Than You Think," 15 July 2017
But the various reports later proved false or could not be substantiated.

— kareem fahim, Washington Post, "Syrian war monitor reports death of ISIS leader but U.S. can’t confirm," 11 July 2017
Knight's attorney in Indiana, Jimmy Voyles, said investigators from both the FBI and the United States Army were involved and that neither could substantiate the allegations.

— robert king, The Courier-Journal, "Bob Knight was accused of groping women at U.S. spy agency," 7 July 2017
Since 2014, there have been 24 official hazing investigations on Parris Island, half of them substantiated.

— janet reitman, New York Times, "How the Death of a Muslim Recruit Revealed a Culture of Brutality in the Marines," 6 July 2017
A cover story Wired published last week lays out much of the evidence substantiating the claims of Russian involvement.

— dan goodin, Ars Technica, "Tuesday’s massive ransomware outbreak was, in fact, something much worse," 28 June 2017
Arrington said detectives were never able to substantiate that claim.

— prescotte stokes iii, AL.com, "Teen girl shot in the leg wasn't the intended target; Her brother was, police say," 26 June 2017
At first, state regulators didn't substantiate the February incident.

— brad schmidt, OregonLive.com, "Oregon kids at 'elevated risk' of harm inside day cares," 24 June 2017
The value is really the outcome of the product, in this case, divided by the cost and being able to substantiate that.

— lisa schencker, chicagotribune.com, "Drug company president wants people to focus on lives saved by pharmaceutical industry," 22 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'substantiate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of substantiate

1610

Synonym Discussion of substantiate

confirm, corroborate, substantiate, verify, authenticate, validate mean to attest to the truth or validity of something. confirm implies the removing of doubts by an authoritative statement or indisputable fact. confirmed the reports corroborate suggests the strengthening of what is already partly established. witnesses corroborated his story substantiate implies the offering of evidence that sustains the contention. the claims have yet to be substantiated verify implies the establishing of correspondence of actual facts or details with those proposed or guessed at. all statements of fact in the article have been verified authenticate implies establishing genuineness by adducing legal or official documents or expert opinion. handwriting experts authenticated the diaries validate implies establishing validity by authoritative affirmation or by factual proof. validated the hypothesis by experiments