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Analogous words: *assent, consent, acquiesce, accede, subscribe: validate (see CONFIRM 2): sanction, *approve, endorseContrasted words: reject, refuse, *decline2 Confirm, corroborate, substantiate, verify, authenticate, validate mean to attest to the truth, genuineness, accuracy, or validity of something. Confirm and corroborate are both used in reference to something doubtful or not yet proved.Confirm, however, usually implies the resolving of all doubts typically by an authoritative statement or by indisputable facts{
his failure to pay his debts confirmed their suspicion that he was not to be trusted
}{there is a rumor—which cannot of course be confirmed— Gorrell
}{it was expectation exquisitely gratified, superabundantly confirmed— Henry James
}Corroborate suggests particularly the strengthening of one statement or piece of evidence by another{the bystanders corroborated his story
}{in general the material illustrates and corroborates what has already become known from other sources— Kennan
}Substantiate presupposes something needing to be demonstrated or proved and implies the offering of evidence sufficient to sustain the contention or to create a strong presumption in its favor{they were able to substantiate their claim to the property when the long-lost deed was found
}{Darwin spent nearly a lifetime in gathering evidence to substantiate his theory of the origin of species
}{no proof had to be brought forward to substantiate the claims they made— Anderson
}Verify has for its distinctive implication the established correspondence of the actual facts or details to those that are given in an account or statement. When what is in question is a suspicion, a fear, or a probability, it can be verified only in the result, event, or fulfillment{the prediction of a severe storm was verified in every detail
}{it [faith] begins as a resolution to stand or fall by the noblest hypothesis . . . ; but it is verified progressively as we go on— Inge
}In more general use verify implies a deliberate effort to establish the accuracy or truth of something usually by comparison (as with ascertainable facts, an original, or a series of control experiments){verify all the citations in a book
}{statements of accounts due are not sent out until they are verified
}{the careful scientist verifies every step in an experiment
}{he has explored most of Trans-Jordan, verified biblical accounts by his findings and excavations— Current Biog.
}{a government survey party was verifying the neighboring landmarks— Furphy
}Authenticate presupposes question of a thing's genuineness or validity and therefore implies a demonstration of either of these by someone (as an expert or the proper authority) in a position to know or to determine{the collector refused to purchase the manuscript until it had been authenticated by experts
}{the bank authenticated the signatures on the note
}{an authenticated copy of the Declaration— Dumas Malone
}Validate is more often used than authenticate when applied to legal papers requiring an official signature or seal before becoming valid{validate a passport
}It is, however, also used when the soundness of a judgment, of a belief, or of a policy is in question{the expansion of demand which alone can validate the policy— Hobsori
}{he validated his conclusion when he demonstrated that his facts and his reasoning were correct in every detail
}Antonyms: deny: contradict
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
