Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

putative

/ˈpju.tə.tɪv/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.96 in modern English

Syllables: pu-ta-tive
IPA: /ˈpju.tə.tɪv/

13

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

3

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Commonly believed or deemed to be the case; generally assumed.

adj

Accepted by supposition rather than as a result of proof.

adj

Alleged, purported, ostensible, professed.

adj

Prospective, potential, proposed.

Example Sentences

"Just as Prince Sihanouk is fronting for the Khmer Rouge today . . . so also was he their putative leader from 1970 to 1975."
"If they are in fact sound, then, of course, desire-utilitarianism need not account for the putative wrongness of infanticide."
"This independence is still presupposed as a condition of agency; but this presupposition leaves in place the epistemic possibility that our putative freedom is illusory, that we are automata rather than agents."
"But Dejouany, like many others, was seduced by the charm and putative brilliance of this man of vision and handed over the reins to Messier in 1996."
"In answer to the objection, that if a thing is only putative, it is fictitious"
"[T]he lady . . . insisted upon going herself, requesting me to mind for a second the baby. . . . lo! the baby awoke and stared at me with a pair of big frightened eyes, which the little thing in another moment rolled in all directions, as if in search of its putative mother."

Etymology

First attested c. 1432, from Middle French putatif, from Latin putātīvus (“supposed, purported”), from putātus (“thought”), from putō (“to think, to consider, to reckon”).

Origin

Source language: Middle French

Word Breakdown

Root: *pewH-, putatif, putātīvus

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈpju.tə.tɪv/
British English: /ˈpjuː.tə.tɪv/

Inflected Forms

more putative (comparative) most putative (superlative)

Derived Forms

putatively putativeness

Phrases

putative marriage

Frequently Paired Words

dispute disrepute impute repute

Synonyms

reputed supposed

Questions

How do you pronounce putative?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈpju.tə.tɪv/.
What does putative mean?: Commonly believed or deemed to be the case; generally assumed.
Where does putative come from?: It is traced to Middle French.

How to pronounce putative

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