Word.ws English Dictionary

semifactual

UK/ˌsɛmiˈfak(t)ʃʊəl/US/ˌsɛmaɪˈfækt͡ʃuəl/

semifactual adjective: only partly factual.

Adjective

semifactual (not comparable)

  1. Only partly factual.
    • Suppose you are given the semifactual assertion, "even if Nora had liked mathematics then she would have became^([sic]) a scientist" and then you find out that Nora did in fact become a scientist.2007 January 26, Ruth M. J. Byrne, The Rational Imagination: How People Create Alternatives to Reality, MIT Press, →ISBN, page 140

Noun

semifactual (plural semifactuals)

  1. A conditional with a false antecedent and a true consequent.

Forms of semifactual

pluralsemifactuals

Origin of semifactual

From semi- + factual. In the logic sense, introduced by Nelson Goodman.

Words formed from semifactual

Questions about semifactual

What does semifactual mean?
Semifactual means only partly factual.
What part of speech is semifactual?
Semifactual can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce semifactual?
Semifactual is pronounced /ˌsɛmiˈfak(t)ʃʊəl/ (UK).

Words near semifactual in the dictionary

  1. semifables
  2. semifabulous
  3. semifacetious
  4. semifactorial
  5. semifactorials
  6. semifactual
  7. semifactually
  8. semifactuals
  9. semifaience
  10. semifaiences
  11. semifailure

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: semifactual (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “semifactual.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/semifactual. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.