baseless
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of baseless
Explanation
If something's baseless, it can't be proven or justified. A baseless accusation of cheating, for example, has no facts or evidence to back it up. Baseless facts in a research paper don't have sources — they may have simply come from the writer's own imagination. A baseless allegation is when one person accuses another of doing something wrong, without having any solid proof or reason for the accusation. The sense of base that baseless comes from is "foundation," from the Greek basis, "step or pedestal."
Vocabulary lists containing baseless
Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 3
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Mythology
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Novel Study: Oedipus Rex, Parts IV–VI
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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.
Baseless and ill-informed outrage for the purposes of personal social media traction serves no one - least of all the injured player.
From BBC • May 13, 2025
Baseless rumors ricocheted through social media alleging that the federal government was attempting to lure demonstrators to Washington to arrest them.
From Washington Post • Sep. 18, 2021
Baker’s title alludes to an early-1950s Air Force project, Project Baseless, that pushed for “combat capability in biological and chemical warfare at the earliest possible date.”
From Seattle Times • Jul. 31, 2020
Baseless accusations should not be allowed to ruin people’s lives.
From Washington Times • Feb. 14, 2018
Baseless apprehensions of the return of the treacherous Pagan and his profligate employer, with the return of their victim—despairing convictions of his own helplessness and infirmity rose startlingly in his mind.
From Antonina by Collins, Wilkie
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
