validity
Americannoun
-
validities
plural
-
the state or quality of being valid.
to question the validity of the argument.
-
legal soundness or force.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of validity
First recorded in 1540–50; from Late Latin validitās; equivalent to valid + -ity
Explanation
When you test something's validity, you see if it holds true. Are these really the best chocolate chip cookies in the world? You might enjoy testing the validity of this statement. The noun validity means genuine or authentic, but it also has a legal meaning: having legal force. Your family asked the judge to determine the validity of your grandfather's will because they weren't sure he was legally allowed to leave all his worldly goods to "the little green men from Mars." Related words include the adjective "valid" and its antonym "invalid," as well as the verb "validate."
Vocabulary lists containing validity
"The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet," Vocabulary from Act 3
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Marbury v. Madison (1803)
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"Simon's Saga," Vocabulary from Episode 7
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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:
When she flagged First Amendment problems with curriculum monitors proposed for Harvard, the acting general counsel “acknowledged the validity of this issue” and offered a rework.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
Multiple sources have told BBC Sport the France international has launched an official challenge over the validity of the final 10 months on his Selhurst Park deal, which expires in June 2027.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
But experts said there are substantial questions about the Census Bureau study’s methodology and validity.
From Salon ● Aug. 21, 2026
As the judge noted in her ruling, the ongoing controversy has as much to do with when and how the diagnostic gospels were compiled as the scientific validity of the ailment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 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
Bosses at WMT have said the change would not affect its train services, timetables or stations and that all "ticket validities and conditions of carriage" were unaffected.
From BBC ● Feb. 1, 2026
There had come a pause, a throbbing silence, from which art might have emerged, may even now after the appointed time arise, with strange validities undreamed of or forgotten.
From Aspects of Literature by J. Middleton Murry
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.
