as in cause
someone or something responsible for a result
presented data that supports the thesis that poverty is the primary causation of crime
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Recent Examples of causation
Researchers have looked for years for smoking-gun evidence that social-media use directly causes mental-health problems in young people at scale, and have mostly turned up weak and inconsistent correlations and no way to prove long-term causation.
—
Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 10 Feb. 2026
While this don't show causation by any means, the findings add to a growing body of evidence suggesting chronic infections play some role in neurodegenerative disease over time.
—New Atlas, 8 Feb. 2026
Several studies found that the causation element was weak, including one funded by the Department of Health and Human Services that showed that achieving those life milestones, regardless of order, was what was associated with a lower level of impoverishment.
—Marissa Martinez, NBC news, 5 Feb. 2026
But others, including the libertarian Cato Institute, have questioned if the relationship is correlation instead of causation.
—Marissa Meador, IndyStar, 22 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for causation
Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 10 Feb. 2026
While this don't show causation by any means, the findings add to a growing body of evidence suggesting chronic infections play some role in neurodegenerative disease over time.
—New Atlas, 8 Feb. 2026
Several studies found that the causation element was weak, including one funded by the Department of Health and Human Services that showed that achieving those life milestones, regardless of order, was what was associated with a lower level of impoverishment.
—Marissa Martinez, NBC news, 5 Feb. 2026
But others, including the libertarian Cato Institute, have questioned if the relationship is correlation instead of causation.
—Marissa Meador, IndyStar, 22 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for causation
Recent Examples of Synonyms for causation
cause
Noun
-
Actors and rock stars from the counterculture scene—including the band Jefferson Airplane—started donating money and cars to the cause.—
Zayd Ayers Dohrn,
New Yorker,
28 Mar. 2026
-
No arrests have been made at this time, and the fire marshal has not yet determined the cause of the fire.—
Katie Houlis,
CBS News,
28 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Causation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/causation. Accessed 1 Apr. 2026.
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