as in assumption
something taken as being true or factual and used as a starting point for a course of action or reasoning
one of the postulates that the true agnostic rejects is the assumption that it is even possible for us to know whether God exists
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in to say
to take as true or as a fact without actual proof
postulates that all people are born with certain rights that can never be taken away from them
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of postulate
New Atlas, 21 Aug. 2025
Now, tangible results have emerged in a field replete with postulates and presumptions.
—Jenna Ahart, Quanta Magazine, 2 July 2025
Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 28 Nov. 2025
Based on their findings, researchers postulate that Homo sapiens reacted better to lead exposure evolutionarily than Neanderthals, a species that were close relatives to Homo sapiens and that went extinct around 40,000 years ago.
—Mason Leath, ABC News, 16 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for postulate
Noun
The reason, the authors of a new study postulate, has to do with light pollution.
—New Atlas, 21 Aug. 2025
Now, tangible results have emerged in a field replete with postulates and presumptions.
—Jenna Ahart, Quanta Magazine, 2 July 2025
Verb
That’s why Nobel Prize-winning chemist Christian Anfinsen postulated in 1972 that DNA alone should fully determine the final structure a protein takes.
—Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 28 Nov. 2025
Based on their findings, researchers postulate that Homo sapiens reacted better to lead exposure evolutionarily than Neanderthals, a species that were close relatives to Homo sapiens and that went extinct around 40,000 years ago.
—Mason Leath, ABC News, 16 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for postulate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for postulate
Noun
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Leaders of the Upper Basin states also are raising objections, saying the Interior Department’s current options rely on flawed assumptions, fail to impose large enough cuts on the Lower Basin and go beyond the federal government’s authority.—
Ian James,
Los Angeles Times,
4 Mar. 2026
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This assumption breaks down in a world that shifts in real time.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
4 Mar. 2026
Verb
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China’s biggest chain of eye hospitals is working with an adviser on the share sale, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.—
Julia Fioretti,
Bloomberg,
9 Mar. 2026
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Jeffrey Singer, a doctor and senior fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute, said decentralization can be beneficial.—
Angela Hart,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Mar. 2026
Noun
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At universities, the study of ancient Chinese texts has historically been scattered across disciplines; now, under government direction, universities are trying to gather that scholarship in new classics departments where, one theory goes, ancient truths can be nurtured and passed down.—
Chang Che,
New Yorker,
8 Mar. 2026
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His panels included doctors, physicists, engineers and others and their reports in 2020 and 2022, proposed a theory of the incidents.—
Will Croxton,
CBS News,
8 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Minear replies coyly when asked a question that assumes Dixie and Buck went home together.—
Patrick Gomez,
Entertainment Weekly,
6 Mar. 2026
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The scientific community long assumed that to understand how lightning works, one needed a massive storm cloud.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
6 Mar. 2026
Noun
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To test that hypothesis, the researchers sped up the zebra fishes’ heart rate; more fractures formed in the cardiac jelly.—
Clare Watson,
Quanta Magazine,
27 Feb. 2026
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But in this case, the bot’s hypothesis is probably right.—
O. Rose Broderick,
STAT,
27 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Rather quickly, the bears came out and presumed that Blue Owl cherry-picked the best loans and sold most of them to the three arms-length investors and the rest to the captive insurance company.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
1 Mar. 2026
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Researchers presumed that certain genes were more active in this part of the heart, and that this activity explained the formation of the muscular network of trabeculae.—
Clare Watson,
Quanta Magazine,
27 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The Indigenous Māori people once believed the boulders were gourds that washed ashore from an ancient canoe wreck, but the science behind it is just as interesting as the legend.—
Madeline Bilis,
Travel + Leisure,
8 Mar. 2026
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Asbille's character reportedly died of cancer, which is believed to be connected to a toxic waste dump located near a mine on the Broken Rock Reservation.—
Haadiza Ogwude,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
8 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Just one week ago, a report hypothesizing on how AI could disrupt the economy sent the Dow tumbling by more than 800 points.—
John Towfighi,
CNN Money,
3 Mar. 2026
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The researchers hypothesized that less visible sports at lower income schools might have fewer resources available to diagnose and report concussions.—
Ciara McCarthy,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
26 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Postulate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/postulate. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
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