circumstantial evidence

American  

noun

1. proof of facts offered as evidence from which other facts are to be inferred (contrasted with direct evidence).

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circumstantial evidence British  

noun

1. indirect evidence that tends to establish a conclusion by inference Compare direct evidence

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Etymology

Origin of circumstantial evidence

First recorded in 1730–40

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

circumstantial evidence

As investigators awaited the results of the DNA test, they gathered circumstantial evidence.

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

The prosecutors built much of their case on circumstantial evidence.

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

One juror told the media that she and her peers didn’t buy the “holdover” explanation, and weren’t convinced by mostly circumstantial evidence connecting Rinderknect to the original fire.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

But plausible profiles can be constructed through circumstantial evidence, what we know about both nature and the lifestyle of Pompeiians, and where a survivor might have turned up later.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

We say that such Evidence-Indices is circumstantial evidence, where the legal understanding of ‘circumstantial’ essentially means ‘contextual’.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton