Newcomblike

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adjective

Of a decision problem: resembling Newcomb's problem, in the sense of taking place in a scenario where another agent has predicted one's decision in advance.

OriginProto-Germanic *līką ← Proto-Indo-European *leyg- ← English Newcomb →
Scrabble 24
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Meanings

adjectiveNewcomblike (not comparable)
  1. not comparabledecision theoryOf a decision problem: resembling Newcomb's problem, in the sense of taking place in a scenario where another agent has predicted one's decision in advance.

    Thus, while the agent does not consider his options to be causes of states, he still may look upon his coming choice as a sign or a symptom of the obtaining state. In such a situation we shall say that his decision problem is "Newcomblike".

    1989 December, Wlodzimierz Rabinowicz, “Stable and Retrievable Options”, in Philosophy of Science, volume 56, number 4, East Lansing, M.I.: Philosophy of Science Association, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 625

Origin

  1. EnglishNewcomb
  2. Proto-Indo-European*leyg-
  3. Proto-Germanic*līką
  4. EnglishNewcomblike

From Newcomb + -like.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Newcomblike. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Newcomblike

MLA

“Newcomblike.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Newcomblike. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Newcomblike,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Newcomblike.

Source: Newcomblike on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.