warranted

1. 1
   adjective

   Deserved, necessary, or appropriate given the circumstances.

   The committee decided that disciplinary action was warranted given the repeated violations.

   Critics argued the harsh review was not warranted by the film's actual flaws.

   Similarjustified, deserved, merited, appropriate, necessary

   Oppositeunjustified, undeserved, uncalled-for, unnecessary

2. 2
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of warrant.

   The unusual readings warranted a second look from the technicians.

   The judge ruled that the search was warranted by probable cause.

   Note

   One spelling does double duty: it is the simple past (the readings warranted a second look) and the past participle after have or in the passive (the search was warranted by probable cause). The verb's older meanings, to protect someone from danger and to give someone a guarantee, are obsolete. The past form therefore normally carries 'justified' or 'authorized'. In the passive it shades into the "deserved" adjective, which stands in the same place after be.

3. 3
   adjective

   Authorized by means of a warrant.

   Officers conducted a warranted search after obtaining the magistrate's signature.

   The seizure was warranted, backed by a judge's official order.

   Similarauthorized, lawful, legal

   Oppositeunauthorized, illegal, unlawful

   Note

   Here the warrant is an actual document, and the adjective comes from the verb's 'authorize' meaning. It takes no degrees: a search is warranted or it is not, never more warranted. The overlap with the "justified" sense needs care. A warranted search can mean one backed by a warrant or simply one that was justified, so the surrounding words have to make clear which is meant.

4. 4
   adjective

   Coated with silver plate that is guaranteed not to wear through.

   The catalog advertised warranted candlesticks guaranteed never to show the base metal beneath.

   Antique dealers prize warranted flatware for its durable silver finish.

   Note

   This sense belongs to flatware, and the guarantee is the whole point. It comes from the verb's sense of vouching that goods are of a stated quality. A warranted spoon is plated rather than solid silver, and what is promised is that the plating will last. Like the other adjectives spelled this way, it takes no degrees: a piece is warranted or it is not.

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