counterfactual

Definition

Contrary to known or agreed facts; untrue.

Etymology

From counter- + factual.

Example Sentences

• "a leaderless disinformation campaign, with claims leaping from conspiracy theorists to state propagandists to alternative-media outlets and back—an ecosystem I call the Counterfactual Community."
• "What would have happened if those great Chinese voyages [by Zheng He] had continued? It's one of those questions in counter-factual history about which it is impossible to be sure."
• "The counterfactual 1982 of the novel plays variations on our historical record and contains clear allusions to the present."