as in plausible
worthy of being accepted as true or reasonable
in that climate of fear, an accusation alone was presumptive evidence of guilt
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Recent Examples of presumptive
No doubt there were many reasons the Chiefs woke up the echoes and restored a certain sense of order on Sunday with a 37-20 clobbering of visiting Baltimore, a presumptive rival for the AFC berth in the Super Bowl.
—
Kansas City Star, 29 Sep. 2025
David Pastrnak is one of them, of course, as are presumptive linemates Morgan Geekie and Elias Lindholm.
—Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 19 Sep. 2025
The presumptive ruling by a majority of a panel of five justices in Brazil's Supreme Court makes Bolsonaro the first former president in the country's history to be convicted for attacking democracy.
—Ricardo Brito, USA Today, 11 Sep. 2025
Nailor was the presumptive replacement for Jordan Addison, who is suspended for the first three games of the season.
—Trevor Squire, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for presumptive
Kansas City Star, 29 Sep. 2025
David Pastrnak is one of them, of course, as are presumptive linemates Morgan Geekie and Elias Lindholm.
—Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 19 Sep. 2025
The presumptive ruling by a majority of a panel of five justices in Brazil's Supreme Court makes Bolsonaro the first former president in the country's history to be convicted for attacking democracy.
—Ricardo Brito, USA Today, 11 Sep. 2025
Nailor was the presumptive replacement for Jordan Addison, who is suspended for the first three games of the season.
—Trevor Squire, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for presumptive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for presumptive
Adjective
-
In a lesser movie, he would be played for laughs as a jacked doofus; here, the character is more nuanced—Eivind seems like a sexy, emotionally plausible alternative to Aksel.—
Margaret Talbot,
New Yorker,
3 Nov. 2025
-
For Beijing, plausible deniability is the essence of grey-zone warfare, effectively projecting capability without confrontation.—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
3 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
Rojas disputes this and says his husband passed a credible fear evaluation at the border.—
Billal Rahman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Oct. 2025
-
Minister of Education, Skills, Youth and Information Dana Morris Dixon said there are credible reports of several other fatalities, but they won't be counted in the official death toll until the bodies are retrieved.—
Emily Shapiro,
ABC News,
31 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
He had been listed as probable earlier in the week with bilateral Achilles tendinopathy, then was cleared to play pregame before exiting.—
Rowan Fisher-Shotton,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Oct. 2025
-
Catastrophic flash flooding and landslides are probable across portions of southern Hispaniola and Jamaica.—
MIAMI HERALD HURRICANE BOT,
Miami Herald,
26 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Presumptive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/presumptive. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
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