UNSUBSTANTIAL


Meaning of UNSUBSTANTIAL in English

“+ adjective

Etymology: Middle English, from un- (I) + substantial

: not substantial: as

a. : lacking a basis in fact

an unsubstantial argument

an unsubstantial hope

unsubstantial speculation

b. : not having matter or substance : visionary , unreal

an unsubstantial phantom … luring men away from safety and ease — Bertrand Russell

remote and unsubstantial as the most distant nebulae — G.W.Russell

pale and unsubstantial in the moonlight, the shadowy figure of a man was moving — C.B.Nordhoff & J.N.Hall

c. : lacking firmness or strength in construction : weak , unstable

a chipping sparrow … collecting stray hairs from the farm horses' tails for lining her very unsubstantial nest — W.P.Smith

a child of wax, delicate and charming and unsubstantial — H.G.Wells

birds and butterflies and such unsubstantial things — W.H.Hudson †1922

• un·substantially “+ adverb

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.