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

/ ˌætɛˈsteɪʃən, 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

Alexander said California law requires registering voters to prove and attest to their identity and has multiple verification measures to ensure people casting ballots are who they say they are.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

Hartig told lawmakers that while the White House report is under review, "we unwaveringly attest that it does not fairly or accurately characterize the full body of work at the museum."

From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026

"People who know me will attest I'm a little fond of football," the Pope said at the mass.

From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026

As anyone who has been on social media can attest, this was a mistake.

From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2026

The voting was absolutely free, as Aureliano himself was able to attest since he spent almost the entire day with his father-in-law seeing that no one voted more than once.

From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

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

Exchanges at the Supreme Court are getting testier, as one this week between Associate Justices Samuel Alito and Ketanji Brown Jackson attests.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 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

A total of 53 crosses attests to that.

From BBC ● Dec. 7, 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

In letters to the court, family and friends, including Perla Hudson, the ex-wife of musician Slash, attested to Sangha’s character.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 2026

The two have not talked since the report was published Wednesday, but that’s not out of the ordinary, James attested.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 23, 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

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

From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2025

The willingness of the two universities to share Robert Oppenheimer attested to the scarcity of qualified theoretical physicists in American academia, especially theoreticians of Oppenheimer’s distinction.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

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

From BBC ● Feb. 14, 2026

The resulting image is crystalline—and full of symbolic touches attesting to his status.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026

Environmentalists welcomed the shutdown as good news attesting to the country's plan to quit coal mining by 2030, when the last brown coal mine is due to close.

From Barron's ● Jan. 29, 2026

Just seven weeks later, he got another mortgage for a seven-bedroom, marble-floored neighboring property, attesting that it too would be his principal residence.

From Salon ● Dec. 8, 2025

The note was stamped with the school’s official seal, attesting that he was a full-time student and only thirteen years old.

From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane

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