counterfactual
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counterfactual
- /ˌkaʊntɚˈfæktʃuəl/ Canada
- /ˌkaʊn.tə(ɹ)ˈfæk.tʃu.əl/ UK
Where it comes from
From counter- + factual.
adjective
-
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.
Similar: contrafactual
- 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.
noun counterfactuals
-
A claim, hypothesis, or other belief that is contrary to the facts.
Similar: counterfact, misapprehension, misconception, misunderstanding, falsehood, misinformation
- 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.
- A conditional statement in which the conditional clause is false.
Translations
Every language
adj contrary to the facts
| Español | contrafactual |
|---|---|
| Português | contrafatual |
| Français | contrefactuel |
| Deutsch | kontrafaktisch |
| Italiano | controfattuale |
| Русский | контрафактивный kontrafaktivnyj |
Talk about this word "counterfactual." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/counterfactual. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. counterfactual. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/counterfactual "counterfactual." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/counterfactual.Cite this
@misc{counterfactual_2026,
title = {counterfactual},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/counterfactual},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
