as in erroneous
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Recent Examples of counterfactual
Health care ethicists, for example, use this kind of counterfactual reasoning to evaluate harm and benefit, asking how a patient would have fared without an intervention.
—
Jen Zamzow,
The Conversation,
17 Dec. 2025
In Dark Matter, a parallel-universe version of Chicago as a desolate wasteland is more obviously counterfactual—and thus less uncanny—than a parallel universe in which the main character’s wife had not given up her career as an artist to have children.
—
Ian Bogost,
The Atlantic,
26 Nov. 2025
Such speculations can be amusing and interesting but, like much counterfactual history, they cannot be tested.
—
Literary Hub,
19 Nov. 2025
Ferguson, who has published a collection of counterfactual histories, is an outlier among academics.
—
Daniel Immerwahr,
New Yorker,
4 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for counterfactual
Jen Zamzow,
The Conversation,
17 Dec. 2025
In Dark Matter, a parallel-universe version of Chicago as a desolate wasteland is more obviously counterfactual—and thus less uncanny—than a parallel universe in which the main character’s wife had not given up her career as an artist to have children.
—
Ian Bogost,
The Atlantic,
26 Nov. 2025
Such speculations can be amusing and interesting but, like much counterfactual history, they cannot be tested.
—
Literary Hub,
19 Nov. 2025
Ferguson, who has published a collection of counterfactual histories, is an outlier among academics.
—
Daniel Immerwahr,
New Yorker,
4 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for counterfactual
Recent Examples of Synonyms for counterfactual
Adjective
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In addition, the trial judge gave the jury erroneous instructions, the appeals court ruled.
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But such fine evidence of the erroneous human touch in the publishing process is, of course, cherished by collectors of this day.
Adjective
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But several of the observations were simply untrue.
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Though there were initial reports that Mansfield was decapitated in the accident, her undertaker, Jim Roberts, later revealed that that was untrue.
Adjective
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This inquiry identified insufficient evidence to conclude that Garcia knowingly made an untruthful statement.
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Since 2019, state law has required law enforcement agencies that employ POST certificate holders to notify the board if a certificate holder knowingly made an untruthful statement during an internal affairs investigation, among other circumstances.
Adjective
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Conversations need grounding as intuitive Moon in your 3rd House of Communication opposes illusory Neptune in your 9th House of Travel and Learning, so facts and visions compete.
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That is, real, not merely illusory, measures, so that the allure to breach peace for imagined gains is overshadowed.
Adjective
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The book traces the fictitious Yeoman family’s evolution over generations from self-sufficient homesteaders to participants in global markets.
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Hosting its usual presentation at its headquarters, located a stone’s throw from San Babila square, the brand installed video walls that broadcast a fictitious runway show created with the help of AI.
Adjective
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The polyester cloth was scratchy on my thighs, the fit inexact.
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Predicting space weather remains a decidedly inexact science, comparable to weather forecasting decades ago on Earth.
Adjective
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This commonly results from inaccurate color representation, poor fit or discrepancies between the physical item and its depiction on the website.
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Choi said McGee would use terminology that could have swayed a jury and sometimes provided an inaccurate window for a time of death.
Adjective
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Mountain views, fishing ponds, sauna The misleading name of the town aside, there’s nothing small about this property.
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The authors note apoB is particularly valuable for patients with high triglycerides, insulin resistance or lower LDL-C levels, where traditional cholesterol numbers can be misleading.
Cite this Entry
“Counterfactual.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/counterfactual. Accessed 2 Jul. 2026.
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