unsound

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ʌnˈsaʊnd/ UK /ʌnˈsaʊnd/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
not in good condition; not based on valid reasoning

The bridge was condemned as structurally unsound.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · not in good condition; not... faulty flawed defective invalid fallacious weak shaky

Opposites

sound valid solid healthy robust

Word family

Forms unsoundness

Derived forms unsoundlyunsoundness

Related forms sound soundness

Etymology

From un- ('not') + sound ('healthy, whole'), from Old English gesund ('healthy, sound'), from Proto-Germanic *gasundaz.

un- Old English gesund Old English *gasundaz Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# unsound

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ʌnˈsaʊnd/
**IPA (UK):** /ʌnˈsaʊnd/

## Meanings
1. not in good condition; not based on valid reasoning

## Examples
- The bridge was condemned as structurally unsound.

## Synonyms
- faulty
- flawed
- defective
- invalid
- fallacious
- weak
- shaky

## Antonyms
- sound
- valid
- solid
- healthy
- robust

## Derived Forms
- unsoundly
- unsoundness

## Related Forms
- sound
- soundness

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: un-
- Root: gesund
- Root: *gasundaz

## Etymology
From un- ('not') + sound ('healthy, whole'), from Old English gesund ('healthy, sound'), from Proto-Germanic *gasundaz.

## AI Etymology
Unsound comes from un- ('not') + sound ('healthy, whole'), from Old English gesund ('healthy, sound'), from Proto-Germanic *gasundaz. The historical chain includes Old English un-, Old English gesund, and Proto-Germanic *gasundaz. The quoted older senses, "not", "healthy, whole", and "healthy, sound", supply the semantic anchors for unsound. The formation is best read as compound and borrowed: the word unsound carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a adj, "not in good condition; not based on valid reasoning". English derivatives include unsoundly and unsoundness; related English forms include sound and soundness. The result is a adj whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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