validity

noun

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va·lid·i·ty | \ və-ˈli-də-tē

, va- \

Definition of validity

: the quality or state of being valid: such as

a : the state of being acceptable according to the law The validity of the contract is being questioned. What the federal courts have ruled … is that renunciations made behind barbed wire were essentially under duress, and thus of no legal validity.— Roger Daniels

b : the quality of being well-grounded, sound, or correct the validity of an argument/theory Other researchers have questioned the validity of the test results. Later he acknowledged that there was no validity to his report.— David Hiltbrand

Examples of validity in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Their ceiling is clear Michigan's non-conference schedule was not particularly strong, but the Wolverines have ended any questions about the validity of their strong start. — Orion Sang, Detroit Free Press, "Michigan basketball destroys Wisconsin, 77-54, to make clear statement on its potential," 13 Jan. 2021 Even as lawmakers gathered on Capitol Hill Wednesday to certify and contest election results, Wolf remained silent about the validity of the election. — Anna Giaritelli, Washington Examiner, "Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf stepping down from Trump administration," 11 Jan. 2021 The former couple has gone back and forth about the validity of their prenuptial agreement. — Ashley Boucher, PEOPLE.com, "Dr. Dre in Intensive Care After Suffering Brain Aneurysm," 5 Jan. 2021 Attorneys discovered Perez when a Los Angeles Times reporter, while writing about Becker, came across the case and asked lawyers at the ACLU about the validity of Perez’s conviction. — Alex Wigglesworth, Los Angeles Times, "With a woman in prison for a stillbirth, California’s murder law is tested," 16 Dec. 2020 Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has continued to spread falsehoods and conspiracy theories about the validity of his loss to president-elect Joe Biden. — Lily Hay Newman, Wired, "Security News This Week: The US Used the Patriot Act to Justify Logging Website Visitors," 5 Dec. 2020 If there was any doubt about the validity of Covenant Christian’s ranking as a top-10 program in Class A, it was erased after a 36-21 victory over Heritage Christian on Sept. 25. — Kyle Neddenriep, The Indianapolis Star, "Indiana Class A state finals preview: Debutants Covenant Christian, South Adams look for first title in any sport," 28 Nov. 2020 And there are plenty of reasons to question the validity of the numbers, which Berners-Lee himself made clear were the product of decade-old, back-of-the-envelope guesstimates, not a recent, rigorous analysis. — Tim Mcdonnell, Quartz, "Don’t worry about the carbon footprint of your emails," 25 Nov. 2020 On Wednesday, the president’s family was heavily involved in efforts to question the validity of the vote tallies. — Maggie Haberman, New York Times, "Fox’s Arizona Call for Biden Flipped the Mood at Trump Headquarters," 4 Nov. 2020

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