counterfactual
adjective
coun·ter·fac·tu·al
ˌkau̇n-tər-ˈfak-chə-wəl 
-chəl,
-shwəl,
-chü-əl
: contrary to fact
counterfactual assumptions
Examples of counterfactual in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Researchers then run disease transmission models under both the real climate and the counterfactual and compare the outcomes.
—
John Drake, Forbes.com, 15 May 2026
Mandatory frontier-model approval simultaneously fails the targeting, counterfactual durability, and enforceability tests.
—Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 15 May 2026
In our counterfactual future, Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay in South America’s southern cone, so close to Antarctica, have to adapt to some of the harshest effects of the widening hole in the ozone.
—Big Think, 31 Mar. 2026
Health care ethicists, for example, use this kind of counterfactual reasoning to evaluate harm and benefit, asking how a patient would have fared without an intervention.
—Jen Zamzow, The Conversation, 17 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for counterfactual
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John Drake, Forbes.com, 15 May 2026
Mandatory frontier-model approval simultaneously fails the targeting, counterfactual durability, and enforceability tests.
—Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 15 May 2026
In our counterfactual future, Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay in South America’s southern cone, so close to Antarctica, have to adapt to some of the harshest effects of the widening hole in the ozone.
—Big Think, 31 Mar. 2026
Health care ethicists, for example, use this kind of counterfactual reasoning to evaluate harm and benefit, asking how a patient would have fared without an intervention.
—Jen Zamzow, The Conversation, 17 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for counterfactual
Cite this Entry
“Counterfactual.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/counterfactual. Accessed 22 May. 2026.
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