suppositious
/,sʌpə'ziʃəs - sə,pɔzi'tiʃəs/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective:
- Based on supposition rather than fact or evidence: Describes something that is assumed, hypothesized, or taken for granted without conclusive proof. It implies a lack of solid foundation in reality or verifiable data.
- Hypothetical or conjectural: Pertaining to an idea, scenario, or entity that is proposed for the sake of argument or explanation but is not necessarily true or real.
Usage and Examples
General Use:
- The entire argument was built on a suppositious premise, so its conclusions were unreliable.
- Her account of the event was dismissed as suppositious by the investigators, who demanded concrete evidence.
In Academic/Scientific Context:
- Many early scientific theories were suppositious, later to be confirmed or refuted by experimentation.
- The paper warned against drawing firm conclusions from such suppositious data.
Advanced Usage and Nuances
- "Suppositious" vs. "Supposed": While both relate to assumption, "suppositious" often carries a stronger connotation of being unfounded, speculative, or even counterfeit. "Supposed" can be more neutral (e.g., ).
- In Legal or Historical Analysis: Used to describe documents, claims, or identities whose authenticity is in doubt.
- The historian treated the newly discovered diary as a suppositious document until it could be authenticated.
Variants and Related Words
- Supposition (n): An idea or theory that is assumed to be true without proof; a hypothesis.
- His plan was based on the supposition that funding would be available.
- Supposititious (adj): Often used interchangeably with "suppositious," but can more specifically imply something fraudulently substituted or spurious.
- The will was declared invalid due to supposititious signatures.
- Conjectural (adj): Based on incomplete information; guesswork.
- Hypothetical (adj): Based on a suggested idea or theory for the sake of argument or investigation.
Synonyms
- Conjectural
- Hypothetical
- Speculative
- Presumptive
- Theoretical
- Assumed
Antonyms
- Factual
- Certain
- Verified
- Proven
- Authentic
- Genuine
Idiomatic Expressions and Phrases
- To rest on a suppositious foundation: To be based on unproven assumptions.
- The policy's success rests on a suppositious foundation, ignoring key economic realities.
- A suppositious case: A scenario constructed for illustrative or argumentative purposes.
- Let's consider a suppositious case where the treaty is never signed.
Adjective
- based primarily on surmise rather than adequate evidence
- theories about the extinction of dinosaurs are still highly conjectural
- the supposed reason for his absence
- suppositious reconstructions of dead languages
- hypothetical situation