counterfactual

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The counterfactual question—what might have happened if France had not abandoned the National Convention’s vision of a trans-Atlantic, multiracial polity?—can never be answered.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026

We can't be certain because the results depend heavily on the method chosen by researchers for measuring the "counterfactual", i.e what would have happened to UK exports had the country stayed in the EU.

From BBC • Jan. 30, 2025

Overall, the counterfactual scenarios generate peak discharges at more than 70 per cent of the 516 river gauges across Germany considered in this study that exceed the record floods currently recorded there.

From Science Daily • Mar. 27, 2024

For one thing, his hyperbole was plainly counterfactual.

From Slate • Sep. 14, 2023

For projects claiming to avoid emissions, it's difficult to prove the counterfactual: Would a given forest really have been cut down without the offset project?

From Salon • Apr. 12, 2023