dispositive
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of dispositive
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 • Jan. 14, 2026
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 • Oct. 19, 2025
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 • Oct. 16, 2025
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 • Dec. 23, 2024
The parties shall give notice of any arbitration award to the Administrator, and such award shall, as between the parties to the arbitration, be dispositive of the issues to which it relates.
From Copyright Law of the United States of America and Related Laws Contained in Title 17 of the United States Code, Circular 92 by United States
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.
