as in erroneous
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Recent Examples of counterfactual
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
Apparently getting an intrinsic reward for others’ wellbeing will take coordination only so far, without counterfactual reasoning to tell you if your actions are directly responsible for others’ behavior.
—Matthew Hutson, IEEE Spectrum, 17 June 2019
See All Example Sentences for counterfactual
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
Apparently getting an intrinsic reward for others’ wellbeing will take coordination only so far, without counterfactual reasoning to tell you if your actions are directly responsible for others’ behavior.
—Matthew Hutson, IEEE Spectrum, 17 June 2019
See All Example Sentences for counterfactual
Recent Examples of Synonyms for counterfactual
Adjective
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But those who in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries made erroneous predictions of imminent mass starvation erred by underestimating the world‑changing potential of grasses.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
25 Mar. 2026
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Complaints vary from inquiries sent through the website going unanswered and erroneous card charges to broken or ineffective merchandise.—
Dina Kaur,
AZCentral.com,
24 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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However, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said those claims were untrue and the route had been reopened.—
Janet Loehrke,
USA Today,
8 Apr. 2026
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The suggestion that the University is singling out the Pride flag with this policy is untrue.—
Samantha Chaney,
CBS News,
2 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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In his earlier testimony on Thursday morning, Espinoza told Wise County District Attorney James Stainton that Horner had been untruthful throughout the investigative process.—
Julia Bonavita,
FOXNews.com,
9 Apr. 2026
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The child abuse pediatrician said the claims in the post, which mirrored those on the fundraising page, were also untruthful.—
Amelia Mugavero,
CBS News,
1 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Physicists treat the volume of the black hole as illusory, like a hologram.—
Shalma Wegsman,
Quanta Magazine,
30 Mar. 2026
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If the recent leftward shift is sustained, or the earlier shift to the right was illusory, the effects on the politics of 2026 could be large, potentially putting control of Congress in the hands of Latino voters.—
Gary M. Segura,
The Conversation,
23 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Investigators allege Gonzalez wrote checks to herself from HOA accounts over an extended period and concealed the thefts by creating fictitious invoices and false ledger entries.—
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten,
FOXNews.com,
8 Apr. 2026
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One requires election records to be maintained for 22 months, while the other prohibits procuring, casting or tabulating false, fictitious or fraudulent ballots.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
29 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Predicting space weather remains a decidedly inexact science, comparable to weather forecasting decades ago on Earth.—
Meghan Bartels,
Scientific American,
31 Mar. 2026
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The food arrived on a mottled brown ceramic plate, its inexact edges forming something between a circle and an octagon.—
Bill Addison,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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However, the truth is in the blue links somewhere, and AI Overviews encourages people to accept its sometimes inaccurate summaries instead of checking those sources manually.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
7 Apr. 2026
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When a consumer requests the removal of inaccurate information, credit agencies typically have 30 days to respond.—
Dan Avery,
CNBC,
6 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Some criticism has also focused on the film's marketing, which has been described as misleading.—
Saba Hamedy,
NBC news,
3 Apr. 2026
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This is technically true and profoundly misleading.—
Vikas Patel,
STAT,
3 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Counterfactual.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/counterfactual. Accessed 12 Apr. 2026.
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