Meanings
comparative more apodictic · superlative most apodictic · alternative apodeictic
- Incontrovertible; demonstrably true or certain.
No religion has ever yet owed its prevalence to ‘apodictic certainty’.
1902, William James, “Lectures XIV and XV: The Value of Saintliness”, in The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature […] , New York, N.Y.; London: Longmans, Green, and Co. […], →OCLC, pages 331–3321 more example
The orca spoke in the odd grammatical tense used either to describe dreams, or to make statements so true they were apodictic, such as "All things die" or "Before my conception I did not exist."
1992, Alexander Jablokov, A Deeper Sea, Avon Books, page 250 - Being a style of argument in which a person presents their reasoning as categorically true, even if it is not necessarily so.
Don’t be so apodictic! You haven’t considered several facets of the question.
- Biblical studieslifestyleAbsolute and without explanation, as in a command from God like "Thou shalt not kill!"
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveof a proposition; necessarily true or logically certain
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekἀποδεικτικός“affording proof”, “demonstrative”
- Latinapodīcticus“proving clearly”, “demonstrative”
- Englishapodictic
From the Latin apodīcticus (“proving clearly”, “demonstrative”), from the Ancient Greek ἀποδεικτικός (apodeiktikós, “affording proof”, “demonstrative”), from ἀποδείκνυμι (apodeíknumi, “to demonstrate”). In turn, from ἀπο- (apo-, “separate, without”), and δεικτικός (deiktikós, “capable of proof”).
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Dutch apodictisch
- apodictischincontrovertible
French apodictique
- apodictiqueincontrovertible
German apodiktisch
- apodiktischincontrovertible
Hungarian apodiktikus
- apodiktikusincontrovertible
Latin apodīcticus
- apodīcticusincontrovertible
Polish apodyktyczny
- apodyktycznyincontrovertible
Romanian apodictic
- apodicticincontrovertible
Russian аподикти́ческий
- аподикти́ческий (apodiktíčeskij)incontrovertible
Swedish apodiktisk
- apodiktiskincontrovertible
Cite this entry
apodictic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/apodictic
“apodictic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/apodictic. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “apodictic,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/apodictic.
Source: apodictic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.