posit
Americanverb (used with object)
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posits,
present (3rd person singular)
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posited,
past participle, past
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positing
present participle
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to place, put, or set.
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to lay down or assume as a fact or principle; postulate.
noun
verb
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to assume or put forward as fact or the factual basis for an argument; postulate
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to put in position
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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positsimple
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positssimple
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have positedperfect
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has positedperfect
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am positingprogressive
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are positingprogressive
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is positingprogressive
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have been positingperfect progressive
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has been positingperfect progressive
Past
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positedsimple
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had positedperfect
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was positingprogressive
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were positingprogressive
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had been positingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of posit
First recorded in 1640–50; from Latin positus, past participle of pōnere “to place, put”
Explanation
To posit something is to assume or suggest that it is true. You can posit an idea or opinion. When you posit, you submit an idea or give an opinion. Scientists posit many ideas — called hypotheses — that they then try to prove or disprove through experimentation and research. In science, you hear about positing a lot, and the same is true in math and logic. When you say "If X, then Y" you're positing a proposition. Positing can also mean to put something somewhere firmly — this means to deposit, fix, or situate.
Vocabulary lists containing posit
"This Is Water" by David Foster Wallace
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"What Is Cultural Identity?"
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Big Science
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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.
See Examples For:
"It's not for me to posit whether it's the beginning, the middle or the end. That's his," said the former Fox News host.
From Barron's ● Mar. 10, 2026
But, given that Grande and NBCUniversal campaigned just as fiercely, I’m once again inclined to posit that the sequel’s dreadful reputation soured Grande’s chances.
From Salon ● Jan. 23, 2026
The indictment mentions the nine specific games but says there were more than 100 total bets on Clase and does not posit an upper bound of how often this happened.
From Slate ● Nov. 11, 2025
A strict materialist explanation must posit a so-far-unknown capability of the brain.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2025
“There are flying squirrels, you know. They exist. In fact, there are some theories that posit that all squirrels are descended from the flying squirrel. In any case, flying squirrels themselves are a documented fact.”
From "Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures" by Kate DiCamillo
He posits that millions of Americans who were born in this country to parents without papers “have a strong moral claim to be able to remain in the land where they grew up.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
Less publicity has been given to his observations regarding the Phillips curve, which posits a trade-off between inflation and unemployment.
From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026
While she never escapes the gravitational pull of her own gendered perspective, Ms. Saxbe nonetheless posits fresh approaches on how men parent and where they might improve.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
Since the conflict in Iran started, bond markets have anticipated more hawkish central banks globally, but the JPMorgan report posits that Iran is fading as a driver of interest rates.
From MarketWatch ● May 11, 2026
“Ah, but most of them are complacent,” Nansi posits.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
“Her Private Hell” is not merely glittering debris, as some have posited, nor is it style over substance; it’s a campfire story told by Thatcher’s unearthly orator, with just as much chilling impact.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
Hannah Arendt, one of the 20th century’s defining political thinkers, posited that modern life was making “being human superfluous”; her learned successor Lepore warns that our present bears out that idea.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
Jaques posited that middle age compels people to lean in to “the tragic, reflective and philosophical.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Scientists have long posited the earliest water animals to transition to land had amphibious tadpole features, going through a metamorphosis akin to that of today's frogs.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
She posited: “You probably went into shock. That’s why you’re not remembering.”
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
Sheinbaum has sought to avoid confrontation with Trump while also positing herself as a defender of Mexican sovereignty.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
Some seasoned startup investors had a more measured read, positing that Anthropic’s updated language was an effort to simplify its investor list as it prepares for an initial public offering.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
Maybe a quote like that might lend itself to industry power players positing that Kilmer was difficult.
From Salon ● Apr. 2, 2025
In late 2022, she made headlines after positing in an interview with RealLyfe Productions that the fallen music executive was behind the deaths of former Uptown Records figures.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2024
Their cosmology developed over time, but was notable for positing a perfectly spherical earth either in the center of the universe, or rotating around an ideal central fire.
From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
