well-founded

American

[wel-foun-did] / ˈwɛlˈfaʊn dɪd /

adjective

having a foundation in fact; based on good reasons, information, etc..

well-founded suspicions.

well-founded British

adjective

having good grounds

well-founded rumours

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of well-founded

Middle English word dating back to 1325–75

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

well-founded

But despite the claim being well-founded, the amount of time it had taken for Morgan to bring it meant it had been "significantly out of time".

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

The plaintiffs’ fears turned out to be well-founded.

From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026

I normally admire Mr. Galston’s columns, as his arguments are usually clear-eyed and logically well-founded.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026

But most current estimates of future inflation fall within a narrow range, giving us at least some confidence that the real yields based on those estimates are well-founded.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 8, 2026

To insist that the issue of validity must be separated from the issue of credibility is to insist that well-founded beliefs be treated as if they are unfounded beliefs.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023