supposititious
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of supposititious
1605–15; < Latin suppositīcius, equivalent to supposit ( us ) (past participle of suppōnere; see supposition) + -īcius -itious
Explanation
Supposititious is a fancy word for "based on guesswork." The word is most often used in a legal sense. If a piece of evidence is supposititious, then it's basically hypothetical. It doesn't have any hard facts to back it up. As the sound of the word suggests, supposititious is related to the more common supposition, meaning something uncertain or unconfirmed. Supposititious also has a slightly different and less common meaning of something that has been substituted illegally for something else. If you ask for Champagne in a bar and you get a glass of sparkling white instead, that is truly one supposititious beverage.
Vocabulary lists containing supposititious
Poe's Favorite Words, collected by Charles Harrington Elster
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Stories of Ourselves
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David Copperfield
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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.
Mr. Pancake's supposititious cable was written in the code of the Commercial Cable Co.
From Time Magazine Archive
Punch hurried valiantly into the breach with a supposititious Tourist Council brochure, which assures impoverished Americans that they are still welcome in Britain, where "our hospitality can be tailored to your diminished purse."
From Time Magazine Archive
This penalty of being jiggered was a favourite supposititious case of his.
From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens
The supposititious marrying man stood perfectly stiff in the middle of the salon, at a loss what attitude to assume, but scratching his nose very often to keep himself in countenance.
From San-Cravate; or, The Messengers; Little Streams by Kock, Charles Paul de
This diatribe from the supposititious Nannie was followed by silence below.
From A Duel by Marsh, Richard
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.
