Sekirov Dictionary

counterfactual

UK /ˌkaʊn.tə(ɹ)ˈfæk.tʃu.əl/US /ˌkaʊntɚˈfæktʃuəl/

noun 3
adjective 2
forms 1

noun3

•
A hypothetical state of the world, used to assess the impact of an action.
- Just as counterfactuals employ too much imagination to qualify as historical works, alternate history often labors under too great a load of artificial "facts" to take flight as fiction. — 2004
A conditional statement in which the conditional clause is false.
A claim, hypothesis, or other belief that is contrary to the facts.

adjective2

•
Of or in comparison to a hypothetical state of the world.
- What would have happened if those great Chinese voyages [by Zheng He] had continued? It's one of those questions in counter-factual history about which it is impossible to be sure. — 2014
•
Contrary to known or agreed facts; untrue.
- a leaderless disinformation campaign, with claims leaping from conspiracy theorists to state propagandists to alternative-media outlets and back—an ecosystem I call the Counterfactual Community. — 2021

forms

counterfactuals

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