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Glite Dictionary
counterfactuality

counterfactuality

9.9
A way of thinking or talking about things that did not happen
  • noun
  • /ˌkaʊntərˈfæktʃuˌælɪti/
  • Specialized
translation icon : contrafactualidad
  • The discussion about counterfactuality highlighted how different decisions could lead to alternative outcomes.

Examples

  • The rich, varied, and often innovative theoretical part of Dannenberg's study is followed by an extensive examination of coincidence and counterfactuality and their vagaries in at least fifty novels from the Renaissance to Postmodernism.

    Academic text (2004)

  • In philosophy, counterfactuality is often used to explore events that could have happened but didn't.

  • Counterfactuality assumes different forms in different narrative genres.

    Academic text (2004)

  • Authors frequently utilize counterfactuality to imagine how history might have changed based on different key events.

Antonyms

factuality
1 6.5

A quality of being true and based on real information

Surface Forms

counterfactuality singular
counterfactualities plural

Morphology

counterfactuality = counterfactual (transparent) = counter + fact + ual + ity

The noun is a regular nominalization of the adjective 'counterfactual' by adding '-ity'; the meaning is directly the state or quality of being counterfactual.

Etymology

Counterfactuality comes from counter 'against', fact 'a thing known to be true', and the ending -ity 'state'. So counterfactuality is the 'state' of being 'against the facts', a way to talk about 'what if' situations that did not actually happen.