Synonyms

attest

American

[uh-test] / əˈtɛst /

verb (used with object)

to bear witness to; certify; declare to be correct, true, or genuine; declare the truth of, in words or writing, especially to affirm in an official capacity.

to attest the truth of a statement.
to give proof or evidence of; manifest.

His works attest his industry.
Linguistics. to give evidence of the existence of (a word, phrase, usage, etc.), especially in writing: The dictionary attests this meaning as early as 1890.

The plural form is attested in ancient texts.
The dictionary attests this meaning as early as 1890.
to put on oath.

verb (used without object)

to testify or bear witness (often followed byto ).

to attest to the reliability of an employee.

noun

Archaic. witness; testimony; attestation.

attest British

/ əˈtɛst /

verb

(tr) to affirm the correctness or truth of
to witness (an act, event, etc) or bear witness to (an act, event, etc) as by signature or oath
(tr) to make evident; demonstrate

his life of luxury attests his wealth
(tr) to provide evidence for

the marks in the ground attested the presence of a fossil

"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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of attest

First recorded in 1590–1600; < Middle French attester, from Latin attestārī “to bear witness to, affirm, confirm” equivalent to at- at- + testārī “to witness” ( see testis ( def. ))

Explanation

To attest is to prove or declare to be true. For example: the fact that you aced the SAT attests to the strength of your vocabulary. Attest and testify come from the same Latin word testari, which means "to declare." Although both words are kind of formal, you often testify in a courtroom, but attest doesn't require a court of law to function. You can attest to anything — that the funny looking shoes toned your thighs, that what someone says is true, or that the new acne medicine really works. To remember it, think of when you pass a test, you attest that you know the material.

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Vocabulary lists containing attest

100 SAT Words Beginning with "A"

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Posted

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The Ancient Period, Before 600 BCE

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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.

See Examples For:

attest attests attested attesting

Money, as this column can attest to, makes that even more complicated.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026

Past team-mates for club and country will queue up to attest to his character as a player and a person.

From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026

None of this is bad on its own, as millions of Sims fans can attest.

From Slate ● Sep. 6, 2026

Ron Burda, 85, recently bought a new Toyota RAV4 and can attest that he hates the driver-assistance technology—but not because he’s older.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

He might have no windows to attest to it, but he had a watch, ticking steadily.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor

Shew said he’s only supposed to be given registrations to process if the would-be voter attests they are a U.S. citizen, as federal law requires.

From Salon ● May 14, 2026

"Belen Garijo's brilliant international career attests to her strategic vision and her ability to drive profound and value-creating transformations," board chairman Frederic Oudea said in a statement.

From Barron's ● Feb. 12, 2026

But surely the passage attests to attitude, not practice, for could Marcus have really eschewed bodyguards?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 11, 2026

As the ending of the musical attests, there may be a way to do both, to be politically engaged and still enjoy the beauty of the world around you.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 23, 2025

Gorgias’s brother Herodicus is a doctor, and the former attests that when trying to persuade a patient to submit to a course of treatment, his oratory is far more effective than his brother’s medical expertise.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith

Tavitian’s admiration for complexity and technical virtuosity is attested to by many extraordinarily detailed works.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026

A large, gestural 1972 painting attested to a road not taken, while records of his sojourns in Europe and Africa revealed the influence of architecture on abstract structure.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 25, 2025

Today, she revels in ownership over the honor: “That was for me too and I recognize what my part in that was. I know I was put in this role for this,” she attested.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2025

Jones consented to a search, had no weapons, and attested that she sought to demonstrate peacefully.

From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2025

From then on, I knew that there was a ritual to a street fight, bylaws and codes that, in their very need, attested to all the vulnerability of the black teenage bodies.

From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates

A medical letter attesting to your mother’s health might help.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026

The group sent a letter Monday to the Justice Department asking it to file court documents attesting to the fund being dead.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026

Another tactic, several parents said: Seek out teachers who give their kid extra leeway with test time in class and have them write letters attesting to the student’s anxiety or other reason for special treatment.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026

"Then, the video attesting to the truth would be shown," she says.

From BBC ● Feb. 14, 2026

Records attesting to his death were pullulating like insect eggs and verifying each other beyond all contendon.

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller

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