Meaning of counterfactual | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A claim, hypothesis, or other belief that is contrary to the facts.
2. A hypothetical state of the world, used to assess the impact of an action.
3. A conditional statement in which the conditional clause is false.

Equivalents

Examples

“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.”

“We can spin out complicated counterfactuals that justify the Iraq invasion, and complicated counterfactuals that make it look even worse.”

“The implicit counterfactual — that these members would support gun control if not for the $1,000 they received from the NRA — seems unlikely to me.”

“Roese also says counterfactuals can serve emotional purposes. You can think about how things could have been worse, and so feel better about yourself, and grateful for where you are.”

“Imagine a counterfactual in which we started relaxing restrictions at an even earlier time, just as the cases began to trend downward.”

CEFR level