Meaning & use
well-documented
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivenot comparable
Supported by a large amount of reliable written evidence or records.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after linking verbs like be and seem; it is not used with more or most.
Patterns
- a well-documented case
- well-documented evidence
- be well-documented
The link between smoking and lung disease is well-documented.
She wrote about a well-documented case of mistaken identity.
Their findings are well-documented in a series of public reports.
adjectivenot comparable
Described in detail and accurately in writing, so that the record is complete.
Grammar: Here the focus is on the quality of the written record rather than on proof; still placed before a noun or after be.
Patterns
- a well-documented process
- well-documented procedures
- be well-documented by someone
The repair process is well-documented, so new staff learn it quickly.
Every step of the experiment was well-documented by the research team.
The company keeps a well-documented history of its safety checks.
Common combinations
- a well-documented fact
- That the city floods every spring is a well-documented fact.
- well-documented evidence
- There is well-documented evidence that the medicine works.
- well-documented case
- Doctors described a well-documented case of recovery after the surgery.
- well-documented history
- The building has a well-documented history going back two centuries.
- remain well-documented
- The early years of the project remain well-documented in the archive.
Synonyms and how they differ
- recorded
- Simply means written down or stored; it does not say whether the record is full or trustworthy, which well-documented does.
- attested
- Used mostly in academic writing about proof from old sources; well-documented is the everyday choice for modern evidence.
- proven
- Stronger, meaning shown to be true; well-documented only means that plenty of records back it up.
Opposites
Word family
- document verb
- to record something in writing or on film
- documentation noun
- the written records that support or explain something
- documented adjective
- recorded in writing, without saying how fully
Commonly confused: well-documented or well written? well-documented or well-documented?
well-documented vs well written
This praises the style of a text, while well-documented praises the amount and quality of evidence behind it.
well-documented vs well-documented
Some writers spell it without the hyphen; keep the hyphen, especially before a noun.
Practice
Which sentence uses well-documented correctly?
Choose one answer.
The adjective follows the linking verb 'is' and describes the report, which is the correct pattern. Option 2 wrongly treats it as a verb, option 3 drops the hyphen and sounds clumsy, and option 4 uses 'has' with an adjective, which is ungrammatical.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “well-documented”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.