Synonym a Day

Sophisticated alternatives to common words

May 20, 2012

incontrovertible (of or relating to an . . . truth) adj.: apodictic

Listed in adjectives, Usage analysis

[In the precise use of the term, for something to be apodictic it must necessarily be true, such as a mathematical equation. However, it is frequently used as a rhetorical device, such as in expressing a matter of opinion that something must be true in the opinion of the writer, or sarcastically, such as accusing another of treating something as being apodictic, when it obviously is not.] 

A number of letters in response to your excellent June 27 editorial “The Disaster of Failed Policy” reveal that many still do not accept the apodictic fact that Hussein had no hand in the 9/11 outrage.  Bush’s “great courage” was perfectly justified in the invasion of Afghanistan but totally served a personal vendetta . . . in the case of the war and occupation of Iraq. (Paul McCaig, “Surveying Iraq with Allawi at the Helm,” Los Angeles Times, 7/2/2004.)

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