Meanings
- modalnot comparableIn actual use or existence, regardless of official or legal status.
Synonyms: in fact, in practice, factually, practically
alternative defacto
- not comparableIn actual use or existence, regardless of official or legal status.
While it is largely recognized that Ukraine holds de jure sovereignty on Crimea, Russia exercises de facto administration on the peninsula.
2 more examples
To avoid conflicts (and associated delays and distractions) with other ministries' minions in Vladivostok, Chief Engineer Iugovich moved his headquarters to Harbin in 1898. Within fifteen years, a transportation hub with more than 100,000 inhabitants had sprung up. Its size and importance were commensurate with its de facto role as the provincial capital of Russian Manchuria.
1995, David Wolff, “Russia Finds Its Limits: Crossing Borders into Manchuria”, in Stephen Kotkin, David Wolff, editors, Rediscovering Russia in Asia : Siberia and the Russian Far East, M.E. Sharpe, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 45Taiwan held a ceremony on Thursday to commission the first squadron of its most advanced F-16 fighter, a US-made jet that will strengthen the island's defences against threats by China. President Tsai Ing-wen oversaw the ceremony at an air base in the southern city of Chiayi alongside Sandra Oudkirk, Washington's de facto ambassador to Taiwan.
2021 November 18, “Taiwan deploys first advanced F-16V fighter squadron”, in France 24, archived from the original on 18 Nov 2021
plural de factos
- AustraliaNew ZealandA legally undeclared spouse; a partner in a spousal relationship which is not officially declared as a marriage, comparable to a common law husband or wife.
One of the vendors was simple and straight; he said that it was his policy not to rent a house to de factos.
1984, Sotirios Sarantakos, Living Together in Australia, page 1412 more examples
An incidental sideline to this little farce, I suppose we can call it, is that the Opposition, in this policy, seems to have reversed its so often stated policy in this place on de factos.
1984, Australian Senate, Senate Weekly Hansard, volume 105, page 22132008, David de Vaus, Chapter 15: Australian Families: Social and Demographic Patterns, in Charles B. Hennon, Stephan M. Wilson (editors), Families in a Global Context, 2011, page 383, The parental rights and responsibilities of de factos are the same as for legally married parents but, because property and maintenance of de factos is a state responsibility, there are differences between married and de factos in some states.
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbIn actual use or existence, regardless of official or legal status.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveexisting in fact whether with lawful authority or not
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latindē factō
- Englishde facto
Unadapted borrowing from Latin dē factō (literally “according to fact”), from dē (“according to”) + ablative of factum (“fact, deed, act”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic بحكم الأمر الواقع
- بحكم الأمر الواقعin fact or in practice
Chinese Mandarin 事實上 /事实上, 實質上 /实质上
- 事實上 /事实上 (shìshíshàng)in fact or in practice
- 實質上 /实质上in fact or in practice
Danish de facto
- de factoin fact or in practice
Dutch de facto
- de factoin fact or in practice
Esperanto laŭfakte, laŭfakta
- laŭfaktein fact or in practice
- laŭfaktain fact or in practice
Finnish de facto, tosiasiallisesti
- de factoin fact or in practice
- tosiasiallisestiin fact or in practice
French de facto, de fait
- de factoin fact or in practice
- de faitin fact or in practice
German de facto
- de factoin fact or in practice
Greek εκ των πραγμάτων, ντε φάκτο
- εκ των πραγμάτων (ek ton pragmáton)in fact or in practice
- ντε φάκτο (nte fákto)in fact or in practice
Hindi सत्यानुसार
- सत्यानुसार (satyānusār)in fact or in practice
Japanese デファクト, 事実上の
- デファクト (defakuto)in fact or in practice
- 事実上の (jijitsujō no)in fact or in practice
Persian دفاکتو, بالفعل
- دفاکتو (de-fâkto)in fact or in practice
- بالفعل (belfe'l)in fact or in practice
Polish de facto
- de factoin fact or in practice
Russian де-фа́кто, факти́ческий
- де-фа́кто (dɛ-fákto)in fact or in practice
- факти́ческий (faktíčeskij)in fact or in practice
Spanish de facto, de fecho (desus.)
- de factoin fact or in practice
- de fecho (desus.)in fact or in practice
- de hechoin fact or in practice
Swedish de facto
- de factoin fact or in practice
Turkish defakto, fiilen
- defaktoin fact or in practice
- fiilenin fact or in practice
- fiilîin fact or in practice
Cite this entry
de facto. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/de%20facto
“de facto.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/de%20facto. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “de facto,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/de%20facto.
Source: de facto on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.