counterfactual

adjective

Definition of counterfactualnext
as in erroneous

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of counterfactual While Uber has disputed my findings on driver pay cuts and increasing profit margins, the company has declined to disclose relevant counterfactual data. — Len Sherman, Forbes, 6 Sep. 2024 Although her settings seem realistic enough, materially and socially, her dramas are almost like fairy tales, or seemingly counterfactual philosophical abstractions. — Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 28 June 2024 In his counterfactual history, the United States would have sought to keep China weak, poor, and peripheral. — G. John Ikenberry, Foreign Affairs, 11 Feb. 2022 Tarantino’s counterfactual ingenuity in linking the two fictional performers to the real-life story of the Manson family was weighed down by the sediment of movie-world references, which seemed mostly designed to gratify his swoony fascination with cinematic history and his own place in it. — Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 2 May 2024 See All Example Sentences for counterfactual
Recent Examples of Synonyms for counterfactual
  1. erroneous
  2. untrue
  3. untruthful
  4. illusory
  5. fictitious
  6. inexact
  7. inaccurate
  8. fallacious
Adjective
  • The Washington Post previously reported that DOGE wants to check federal benefits spending against tax records, which could help Musk's team identify duplicative or erroneous payments.
    — arkansasonline.com, arkansasonline.com, 14 Mar. 2025
  • There were also erroneous reports regarding the Seven Dwarfs.
    — James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Mar. 2025
Definition of erroneous
Adjective
  • All board members were fully informed of this decision and present during these discussions, and any claims to the contrary are simply untrue.
    — Elizabeth Campbell, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 20 Mar. 2025
  • But Platt’s supporters said that was untrue and defended his leadership of the city’s 4,000-plus employees.
    — Mike Hendricks, Kansas City Star, 20 Mar. 2025
Definition of untrue
Adjective
  • President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement on June 1 was terribly misguided, and his justification for doing so was misleading and untruthful.
    — Robert N. Stavins, Foreign Affairs, 5 June 2017
  • What is more untruthful: A thing written down, or a sustained deception of the heart?
    — Nicolette Polek, Harper's Magazine, 2 July 2024
Definition of untruthful
Adjective
  • The illusion of a causal connection People tend to form illusory correlations between objects, people, occurrences or behaviors, particularly when those things are infrequently encountered.
    — Julia Standefer, The Conversation, 14 Mar. 2025
  • Here, the New York scenes are far too glum to coexist with the breezy maneuvering that’s happening in the present, and giving the lead an illusory disabled brother to talk to from time to time feels like the worst version of a wannabe Shyamalan twist.
    — Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 24 Feb. 2025
Definition of illusory
Adjective
  • Putin cannot refuse a ceasefire, without losing the fictitious moral high ground.
    — Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 11 Mar. 2025
  • The report did not mention any instances of dead or fictitious employees getting paid.
    — Laura Doan, CBS News, 27 Feb. 2025
Definition of fictitious
Adjective
  • After all, matching photos is exactly the kind of inexact process that ML handles well.
    — Eric Siegel, Forbes, 13 Jan. 2025
  • Projecting value seven years in advance is inexact, but based on current deals for multi-team arenas, those naming rights could be worth $25 million to $35 million per year, according to sponsorship consultant Eric Smallwood, president of Apex Marketing Group.
    — Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico.com, 14 Jan. 2025
Definition of inexact
Adjective
  • But to say that each team’s problems are entirely talent-and-bad-luck issues would be inaccurate in our view.
    — Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 19 Mar. 2025
  • Implementing controls to reign in its AI agents’ behavior that can initiate incorrect orders, offer bad advice or generate inaccurate research.
    — Gene Marks, Forbes, 19 Mar. 2025
Definition of inaccurate
Adjective
  • That will in turn spread on social media, which often plays a disproportional role in boosting these disinformation efforts by providing nearly unlimited platforms for unfiltered content and fallacious and deceptive claims.
    — Peter Suciu, Forbes, 23 Dec. 2024
  • But hard evidence in both our nation’s history and our present shows that this reasoning is fallacious.
    — Ana Raquel Minian, TIME, 30 May 2024
Definition of fallacious

Browse Nearby Words

counterevidence
counterfactual
counterfeit
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Counterfactual.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/counterfactual. Accessed 27 Mar. 2025.

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