dispositive

adjective dis·pos·i·tive \ di-ˈspä-zə-tiv \

|Updated on: 22 May 2018

Definition of dispositive

: directed toward or effecting disposition (as of a case)

dispositive evidence

Recent Examples of dispositive from the Web

The skids were further greased by the ease of accommodating feelings as dispositive in human events.

— WSJ, "Feelings Are Fine, But a Consensus Is Divine," 8 May 2018
Rather, the dispositive point is that the local government conforms to the requirement that only law enforcement officers and traffic infraction enforcement officers — rather than employees of a vendor — may issue traffic citations.

— wire reports, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Red-light cameras can stay, Florida Supreme Court rules," 3 May 2018
The two judges who decided this case are both named Edith, which is weird, but not dispositive.

— charles p. pierce, Esquire, "Asking Financial Advisers to Act in Their Clients' Best Interest Is 'Unreasonable' Now," 16 Mar. 2018
Maybe that's a smidge low, but top eight doesn't sound quite right, either, for a group whose dispositive performance virtues in Big East play were outstanding defensive rebounding and a highly favorable disparity in free throws.

— paul daugherty, Cincinnati.com, "Doc: Where Billy Hamilton, Amir Garrett, Joey Votto and the rest of the Cincinnati Reds stand," 6 Mar. 2018
Subscribe That may seem like an antiquated approach in an age of ever-improving DNA technology; some 350 men and women have now been freed thanks to its dispositive power.

— barbara bradley hagerty, The Atlantic, "Can You Prove Your Innocence Without DNA?," 6 Mar. 2018
Implicit in the argument in the memo is that this omission on the part of the feds about Steele, if indeed there was such an omission, was dispositive to the judge’s decision to endorse the warrant.

— andrew cohen, Esquire, "Why Devin Nunes's Memo Would Never Hold Up in Court," 2 Feb. 2018
For me the civil rights movement was about lowering the racial identity as a dispositive feature of the human being.

— isaac chotiner, Slate Magazine, "A lonely Trump defender in the academy attempts to continue defending Trump.," 24 Apr. 2017
All fact discovery for the trial is due by Feb. 15, 2018, with all dispositive motions filed by March 15, 2018 and any responses in opposition due by April 16, 2018.

— tom green, AL.com, "Trial date set for final remaining charge in Sunny Golloway wrongful termination lawsuit," 28 Oct. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dispositive.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.