How to Use substantiate in a Sentence

substantiate

verb
  • Mr. MacGregor couldn't substantiate that it was Peter, and not some other rabbit, in the cabbage patch.
  • But this is the first time it has been substantiated by flight records.
    — Aaron Blake, Washington Post, 23 Apr. 2018
  • The state has rarely substantiated these claims, but proof has never been the point.
    — Omid Memarian, The Atlantic, 25 Jan. 2026
  • Her campaign had yet to substantiate claims of fraud at polling stations.
    — Franklin Briceno and Joshua Goodman, Star Tribune, 10 June 2021
  • Not a lot — or at least little that can be substantiated.
    — Dennis Harvey, Variety, 31 Oct. 2025
  • That is, the hundreds of news clippings that substantiate her plots.
    — Jon Wertheim, CBS News, 9 Feb. 2026
  • But it never was substantiated by a legit news source or the cops.
    — Brock Colyar, Curbed, 25 Aug. 2023
  • But don’t guess here; the IRS may ask you to substantiate your mileage.
    — Nerd Wallet, oregonlive, 14 Feb. 2022
  • The case was later cleared because the tip could not be substantiated.
    — Casey Tolan, CNN, 5 Sep. 2024
  • The suit does not detail what the plaintiffs learned that substantiated that claim.
    — Dan Mangan,hugh Son, CNBC, 22 Jan. 2026
  • The past eight weeks substantiated them.
    — Chandler Rome, New York Times, 7 Aug. 2025
  • The deputies were ultimately not able to substantiate the origin of the threat, and no charges were filed.
    — Eric Levenson, CNN Money, 20 Feb. 2026
  • But Davis said the department cannot substantiate the reason for the stop.
    — Adrian Sainz, Anchorage Daily News, 29 Jan. 2023
  • While the numbers are high, the cases are rarely substantiated.
    — Melissa Brown, The Tennessean, 21 Aug. 2025
  • Yet there has been nothing in Putin’s behavior to substantiate such a claim.
    — Simon Shuster, Time, 8 Aug. 2025
  • In each instance, the department did not substantiate the claims.
    — Robert King, Indianapolis Star, 17 Sep. 2017
  • The suit provides no proof to substantiate the claims and no details on exactly when the calls were recorded.
    — Bloomberg.com, 8 June 2018
  • The impact these oils have on health has not been substantiated either pro or con and requires more research.
    — Environmental Nutrition, sun-sentinel.com, 28 Aug. 2019
  • This can consist of handwritten or typed notes as well as copies of documents to substantiate the notes.
    — Tom Spiggle, Forbes, 16 May 2022
  • The media loves any proof point that will help substantiate industry trends or qualify your points of view.
    — April Margulies, Forbes, 2 Sep. 2021
  • Andrew also claims in the show that his father takes a young male lover, neither of which have been substantiated.
    — Leah Silverman, Town & Country, 14 Mar. 2018
  • Olson has said her office was not able to substantiate any abuse by the principal and does not plan to pursue a case against him.
    — Courtney Tanner, The Salt Lake Tribune, 18 Aug. 2022
  • What has Trump done to substantiate his version of the narrative?
    — Mark Joseph Stern, Slate Magazine, 9 June 2017
  • At the time, news reports claimed that evidence of aliens was found at the site, but this claim was never substantiated.
    — Ailsa Harvey, Space.com, 17 Jan. 2025
  • This means that each chatbot query response is returned to the Graph to substantiate the answer.
    — Patrick Moorhead, Forbes, 16 Mar. 2023
  • Prosecutors tried, but failed, to convince the court that more was needed to substantiate the script.
    — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 9 Feb. 2024
  • All of the injuries were self-inflicted and were designed to substantiate her story.
    — Don Thompson, ajc, 19 Sep. 2022
  • None have yet been substantiated.
    — Zak Doffman, Forbes.com, 27 Jan. 2026
  • No law enforcement agency has so far substantiated the notes.
    — Marlene Lenthang, NBC news, 6 Apr. 2026
  • No law enforcement agency has so far substantiated the note.
    — Marlene Lenthang, NBC news, 7 Feb. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'substantiate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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