de facto
58
5.7
- adjective
- /deɪ ˈfæktoʊ/
:
de facto
- She was the de facto leader of the group, making all the decisions even though she had no official title.
- de facto leader
- de facto recognition
- de facto control
So while you're still there, you've still got de facto rights.
- So while you're still there, you've still got de facto rights.
- Basically that we are the white oppressive state and everyone else is de facto subjugated.
- And it may be the case that neither of those is where a de facto burden of proof rests.
- Apple at that moment became the de facto on ramp to podcasting.
- And, you know, it's a way of having a sort of de facto government.
- But anyway, Panetta believes that we are already in Europe facing, quote, de facto stagnation.
- But you know, that is going on with, I wouldn't say state sanction, but certainly de facto state sanction.
- You cannot have national guidance that is forcing police officers to de facto criminalize people for non crimes.
- If you go to work in exchange hours of your life for money that you never use, you're de facto wasting your life, right?
- Probably, you know, you didn't have big dating panel shows as the sort of de facto manosphere format.
- They litigated it and William Charlie Jones got the right to vote, thereby giving de facto citizenship to Alaska Natives.
- You may even try to gently encourage them to seek out therapy or make the mistake of trying to be a de facto therapist for them.
- But because they're members of NATO, we sort of de facto have to accept the fact that they could play a role in this.
Examples
-
Do you think that she is in any way the de facto leader of the Democrat Party?
-
But they attempted to slow the process by maintaining de facto control of political life in the armed forces.
Academic text (1992) -
So this one was de facto really the first one.
-
- Not my biological sister, but my de facto sister.
-
Mr. President... we are now at a de facto state of war with the Russians.
-
People don't discuss it with those terms, but de facto that is what they are talking about.
-
From this moment on, I am the de facto commander of this precinct.
-
The report indicated: A de facto institution of separate justice was in place for whites and blacks.
Academic text (2017) -
Indeed, there is evidence that Beijing already has, de facto, a veto in all important areas.
Academic text (1990) -
That's part of the New Front Popular, and he's the de facto leader in France.
Synonyms
∞
1.4
Real and existing in fact, not imagined or expected
258
3.7
Works in practice even if not official
75
3.8
Not approved by the people in charge
26
4.4
In a way that does not have official approval or permission
Antonyms
How Real
Surface Forms
Morphology
de + facto
The phrase is a lexicalized Latin borrowing whose parts ('de' and 'facto') are not productive English words listed in the input, so its meaning ('in fact/in practice') is not compositionally derivable by an average B1 learner from the given constituents. Although the expression occurs across many languages as a fixed legal/formal term, it functions as an idiomatic unit in English and must generally be learned whole rather than inferred from its parts.
Etymology
De facto comes from Latin: de means 'from' and facto means 'the fact'. So it pictures something that exists 'in fact' or 'in reality' even when it is not 'official', which is why we use it for things that are true in practice.