suppositious

comparative more suppositious · superlative most suppositious · alternative supposititious

1. Spurious; substituted for the genuine, counterfeit; fake.First known use 17th c.

   […] who knowes not how false, how suppositious, the writings and Epistles of the auncient Popes are iustly esteemed?

   1616, James I of England, A Remonstrance of the Most Gratious King James I, Cambridge, page 22

   2 more examples

   […] a hen teaches this language with equal ease to the ducklings, she has hatched from suppositious eggs, and educates as her own offspring […]

   1794, Erasmus Darwin, Zoonomia, London: J. Johnson, Volume 1, Section 16.9, p. 154

   […] unfortunately for you, the real Faber and the suppositious Faber, alias Draycott, were much alike in one respect. They gave way to drinking bouts at regular intervals.

   1913, Fred M. White, chapter 26, in Powers of Darkness

2. Imaginary; fictitious, pretended to exist.First known use 17th c.

   At rehearsals the actor tossed an entirely imaginary cloak about his shoulders as though it were heavy brocade, courteously removed a hat made of air, and seriously set out on a suppositious table a non-existent dinner, after sedulously cooking it on a kitchen range that was a chair.

   1940, Sinclair Lewis, chapter 14, in Bethel Merriday

3. Hypothetical, based on supposition; conjectural.First known use 17th c.

   Near-synonyms: assumed, presumed, presumptive, putative, supposed; apparent, likely

   1 more example

   Look, Dr. Lanning, let me present you with a suppositious case. Supposing we had a politician who was interested in defeating a reform candidate at any cost and while investigating his private life came across oddities such as I have just mentioned.

   1946 September, Isaac Asimov, “Evidence”, in Astounding Science-Fiction, volume 38, number 1, page 125

   Synonyms: suppositional, assumed, presumed, presumptive, putative, supposed, apparent, likely