counterfactual

American  

[koun-ter-fak-choo-uhl] / ˌkaʊn tərˈfæk tʃu əl /

noun

Logic.

1. a conditional statement the first clause of which expresses something contrary to fact, as “If I had known.”

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counterfactual British  

/ ˌkauntəˈfæktʃʊəl /

adjective

1. expressing what has not happened but could, would, or might under differing conditions

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noun

1. a conditional statement in which the first clause is a past tense subjunctive statement expressing something contrary to fact, as in

   if she had hurried she would have caught the bus

Other Word Forms

• counterfact
  noun
• counterfactually
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of counterfactual

First recorded in 1945–50; counter- + factual

Example Sentences

He repeatedly invokes counterfactual arguments to insist that without guns there would have been no Industrial Revolution.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 14, 2025

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

A counterfactual flood results here from a shift in the precipitation field by 50 kilometres towards the north-east.

From Science Daily • Mar. 27, 2024

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

Of course, no counterfactual or hypothetical reconstruction of how people from the past might have approached or performed an intellectual task can predict what they certainly would have done.

From Slate • Feb. 15, 2023