groundless

UK/ˈɡɹaʊndləs/US/ˈɡɹaʊndləs/

adjectiveC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,483 of 15,258neutral

Groundless means having no basis in fact. Groundless fears, a groundless accusation, entirely groundless.

It belongs to fears, rumours and accusations, and it is stronger than untrue because it says there was never anything there to begin with. The ground in it is the old sense meaning a foundation.

Definitions of groundless

1adjectivegroundlessHaving no basis in fact.C1
“The rumours about the company closing turned out to be completely groundless.”

groundless is a quality.

Also accepted in games: unfounded

Where it comes from

Old English grundleas first meant bottomless, from grund, a bottom or foundation, plus -less.

Proto-Germanic
*grundulausaz
Old English
grundlēas
Middle English
groundles — bottomless
English, today
groundless

From Middle English groundles (“bottomless”), from Old English grundlēas, from Proto-Germanic grundulausaz, equivalent to ground + -less. Cognate with Dutch grondeloos, German Low German grundlos, German grundlos, Danish grundløs, Swedish grundlös.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

groundless in the wild

The Chinese government responded that the allegations were "groundless" and that it had already developed the necessary technologies prior to the alleged thefts.
Cox Report
A group of Stanford University scientists analyzed the report, concluding that it was inflammatory, groundless in some instances, and had some important relevant facts wrong.
Cox Report
The worries were groundless: the hall was full.
At Carnegie Hall (Dave Brubeck Quartet album)
Both Pletnyova and Lev Gumilev studied under Mikhail Artamonov, but she rejected many of Gumilev's theories as groundless speculation.
Svetlana Pletnyova
Coverage almost always provides for the defense costs, including when legal action turns out to be groundless.
Professional liability insurance

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

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