as in apparent
appearing to be true on the basis of evidence that may or may not be confirmed
the putative reason for her dismissal was poor job performance
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Recent Examples of putative
Although the city has historically struggled with high crime, crime rates were sharply declining before Trump declared a putative emergency that required urgent federal intervention.
—
Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 21 Aug. 2025
Although Xi oversaw military purges earlier in his career and even imposed a sweeping overhaul of the PLA’s command structure in 2015, this recent shakeup has raised eyebrows since many of the affected men were Xi’s putative allies rather than potential political rivals.
—Jonathan A. Czin, Foreign Affairs, 18 Aug. 2025
Still, Indians have taken note that Trump is cracking down hardest against India, a putative partner, for buying oil from Russia, and not on China, allegedly America’s main adversary, which imports even more Russian oil.
—Andreas Kluth, Mercury News, 14 Aug. 2025
But no one knows what the half-life of putative particles of dark matter would be.
—Lyndie Chiou, Scientific American, 30 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for putative
Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 21 Aug. 2025
Although Xi oversaw military purges earlier in his career and even imposed a sweeping overhaul of the PLA’s command structure in 2015, this recent shakeup has raised eyebrows since many of the affected men were Xi’s putative allies rather than potential political rivals.
—Jonathan A. Czin, Foreign Affairs, 18 Aug. 2025
Still, Indians have taken note that Trump is cracking down hardest against India, a putative partner, for buying oil from Russia, and not on China, allegedly America’s main adversary, which imports even more Russian oil.
—Andreas Kluth, Mercury News, 14 Aug. 2025
But no one knows what the half-life of putative particles of dark matter would be.
—Lyndie Chiou, Scientific American, 30 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for putative
Recent Examples of Synonyms for putative
Adjective
-
The Hurricanes’ only public question mark among key contributors entering the week was edge rusher Akheem Mesidor, who sustained an apparent foot injury in the fourth quarter against Louisville.—
Jordan McPherson,
Miami Herald,
24 Oct. 2025
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The Silver Hugo for Best Sound goes to SOUND OF FALLING for its ability to echo, in both its silences and thunders, the constant hum of secrets passed from one generation to the next in the apparent domestic quiet that both conceals and reveals.—
Christian Blauvelt,
IndieWire,
24 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The presumed reasoning behind why the film was ignored is multilayered.—
Marcus Jones,
IndieWire,
8 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Anthony Davis was the only Lakers player listed as probable on the injury report from that day.—
Doha Madani,
NBC news,
23 Oct. 2025
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How probable is a US launch anyway?—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Since last Thursday, Disney has run public messages notifying YouTube TV customers of a possible blackout.—
Liam Reilly,
CNN Money,
31 Oct. 2025
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An additional 1 to 2 inches is possible today over portions of Hispaniola.—
MIAMI HERALD HURRICANE BOT,
Miami Herald,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Putin claimed that such NGOs had taken in more than $1 billion from foreign sources, offering the figure as ostensible proof of Western meddling.—
Tetiana Kotelnykova,
The Atlantic,
22 Oct. 2025
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Whatever Zemeckis and Spielberg's reasons for parting ways with their ostensible first choice, Eric Stoltz, were theirs.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
17 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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We’re simply left alone with an addict and his feelings—or, occasionally, his seeming lack of them.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
10 Oct. 2025
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A lot of it was the distance that I was afforded, the seeming distance that I was afforded.—
Ed Meza,
Variety,
30 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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With its investments in AI infrastructure and obvious strengths on the power front, this is a country that is building out data centers and positioning itself as a hub for AI, entertainment, sports, finance, high-tech manufacturing and more.—
Diane Brady,
Fortune,
27 Oct. 2025
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The analyst pointed to Azure, Microsoft's cloud computing platform, as an obvious artificial intelligence beneficiary.—
Lisa Kailai Han,
CNBC,
27 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Putative.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/putative. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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