unattested
Americanadjective
-
not certified or confirmed; not attested.
an unattested codicil to her will.
-
of or noting a word, phrase, usage, etc., that has not been proven to exist, especially in writing.
an unattested earlier form reconstructed by linguists.
Etymology
Origin of unattested
First recorded in 1665–70; un- 1 ( def. ) + attest ( def. ) + -ed 2 ( def. )
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.
Yet time and again Bach has restored text that was far from clearly missing, or has changed perfectly plausible sounding, but in fact unattested, wording to the standard Lutheran rendering.
From New York Times ● Mar. 30, 2018
Concede what you please to these arbitrary and unattested superstitions, how will they help you?
From Evolution, Old & New Or, the Theories of Buffon, Dr. Erasmus Darwin and Lamarck, as compared with that of Charles Darwin by Samuel Butler
By way of facts, we have only a large body of unattested anecdotes of supra-normal successes in crystal-gazing, in many lands and ages; and the scanty records of modern amateur investigators, like the present writer.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 7 "Crocoite" to "Cuba" by Various
Adj. countervailing &c. v.; contradictory. unattested, unauthenticated, unsupported by evidence; supposititious.
From Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases by Peter Mark Roget
It was a mere unattested memorandum; and he pronounced, as the legal phrase is, for the original will.
From Memoir of Queen Adelaide Consort of King William IV. by Dr. John Doran
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.
