suppositious

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From New Latin suppositius, from Latin suppositīcius.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˌsʌpəˈzɪʃəs/
  • Rhymes: -ɪʃəs

Adjective

suppositious (comparative more suppositious, superlative most suppositious)

  1. Spurious; substituted for the genuine, counterfeit; fake. [from 17th c.]
    • 1616, James I of England, A Remonstrance of the Most Gratious King James I[1], Cambridge, page 22:
      [] who knowes not how false, how suppositious, the writings and Epistles of the auncient Popes are iustly esteemed?
    • 1794, Erasmus Darwin, Zoonomia[2], London: J. Johnson, Volume 1, Section 16.9, p. 154:
      [] a hen teaches this language with equal ease to the ducklings, she has hatched from suppositious eggs, and educates as her own offspring []
    • 1913, Fred M. White, chapter 26, in Powers of Darkness[3]:
      [] unfortunately for you, the real Faber and the suppositious Faber, alias Draycott, were much alike in one respect. They gave way to drinking bouts at regular intervals.
  2. Imaginary; fictitious, pretended to exist. [from 17th c.]
    • 1940, Sinclair Lewis, chapter 14, in Bethel Merriday[4]:
      At rehearsals the actor tossed an entirely imaginary cloak about his shoulders as though it were heavy brocade, courteously removed a hat made of air, and seriously set out on a suppositious table a non-existent dinner, after sedulously cooking it on a kitchen range that was a chair.
  3. Hypothetical, based on supposition; conjectural. [from 17th c.]
    Synonym: suppositional
    Near-synonyms: assumed, presumed, presumptive, putative, supposed; apparent, likely
    • 1946 September, Isaac Asimov, “Evidence”, in Astounding Science-Fiction, volume 38, number 1, page 125:
      Look, Dr. Lanning, let me present you with a suppositious case. Supposing we had a politician who was interested in defeating a reform candidate at any cost and while investigating his private life came across oddities such as I have just mentioned.

Derived terms

See also