Standard Lemma guide

well-founded

adj · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Based on reasoning, evidence and good judgement.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: well-grounded, on solid ground, legitimate

Antonyms: ill-founded, ill-grounded, groundless, baseless, flimsy, unjustified

Broader terms: founded

2

adj

Meaning 2

Properly substantiated.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: well-grounded

Antonyms: ill-founded, ill-grounded, groundless, baseless, flimsy, unjustified

Broader terms: founded

3

adj

Meaning 3

Of a binary relation: such that every non-empty subset of the relation's domain has a minimal element with respect to the relation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: mathematics, sciences

Examples

  • well-founded relation

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective satellite

Meaning 4

based on sound reasoning or evidence

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • well-founded suspicions

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: tenable

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

7 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: հիմնավոր (himnavor) — based on reasoning, evidence and good judgement
  • Finnish: perusteltu — based on reasoning, evidence and good judgement
  • Finnish: aiheellinen — based on reasoning, evidence and good judgement
  • German: fundiert — based on reasoning, evidence and good judgement
  • Swedish: välgrundad — based on reasoning, evidence and good judgement
  • Armenian: հիմնավոր (himnavor) — properly substantiated
  • Finnish: perusteltu — properly substantiated
Real reading context

well-founded in complete knowledge articles