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dispositive

American  
[dih-spoz-i-tiv] / dɪˈspɒz ɪ tɪv /

adjective

  1. involving or affecting disposition or settlement.

    a dispositive clue in a case of embezzlement.


Etymology

Origin of dispositive

1475–85; dispose + -itive, on the model of positive

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.

When judicial outcomes turn on theories that corporate decision makers couldn’t reasonably anticipate would be dispositive, such as after-the-fact judgments about incentive necessity, governance risk becomes harder to assess in advance.

From Barron's

These dispositive motions are rarely granted, as I know from my experience representing Snowden, Thomas Drake, Daniel Hale and other whistleblowers in national security prosecutions under the Espionage Act.

From Salon

The evidence for both near-death experiences and childhood memories of previous lives is persuasive in terms of the credibility of the sources and verified facts, but much of it is strongly suggestive instead of dispositive.

From The Wall Street Journal

No single factor is dispositive.

From Slate

The Reid Technique also condones lying in certain circumstances, as long as it doesn’t involve “incontrovertible or dispositive evidence,” noting that the Supreme Court in 1969 in Frazier vs.

From Los Angeles Times