Certainty and Evidence

Objective: Understand empirical and choose it accurately in context.

empirical (adjective): Based on observation, measurement, or experiment rather than theory alone. Context sentences 1. The engineers gathered empirical evidence by measuring how much weight each model bridge could hold. 2. Her argument combined a mathematical prediction with empirical results from classroom trials. 3. Without empirical data about local traffic, the committee could only guess where a new crossing would help.

Objective: Understand verifiable and choose it accurately in context.

verifiable (adjective): Able to be checked for accuracy using evidence. Context sentences 1. The application requires a verifiable record of volunteer hours signed by a supervisor. 2. A useful historical claim should rest on verifiable details rather than an unnamed person's recollection. 3. The reporter included the meeting date and document number to make her account verifiable.

Objective: Understand demonstrable and choose it accurately in context.

demonstrable (adjective): Able to be clearly shown or established through evidence or reasoning. Context sentences 1. The tutor asked for a demonstrable connection between the quotation and the student's conclusion. 2. The redesigned handle offered a demonstrable advantage: users could lift the container with less force. 3. A difference between the two methods is demonstrable even with a simple classroom model.

Objective: Understand incontrovertible and choose it accurately in context.

incontrovertible (adjective): So clearly established by evidence that it cannot reasonably be disputed. Context sentences 1. The continuous recording supplied incontrovertible evidence that the door remained closed throughout the test. 2. Once both teams checked the arithmetic, the error in the published total was incontrovertible. 3. The signed original made the existence of the agreement incontrovertible, although its meaning remained contested.

Objective: Understand irrefutable and choose it accurately in context.

irrefutable (adjective): Impossible to disprove or successfully argue against. Context sentences 1. One verified counterexample supplied an irrefutable objection to the claim that every tile was blue. 2. The proof became irrefutable when each step followed necessarily from the accepted premises. 3. The original recording offered an irrefutable answer to the allegation that the speaker had omitted the final sentence.

Objective: Understand indisputable and choose it accurately in context.

indisputable (adjective): Clearly true or established beyond reasonable disagreement. Context sentences 1. The delay was indisputable, although the committee disagreed about who had caused it. 2. The map's missing scale was an indisputable flaw in a document intended for measuring distances. 3. Both reviewers accepted the indisputable fact that the revised manuscript contained three additional chapters.

Objective: Understand unsubstantiated and choose it accurately in context.

unsubstantiated (adjective): Not supported by sufficient evidence. Context sentences 1. The principal declined to punish anyone on the basis of an unsubstantiated accusation. 2. The proposal repeated an unsubstantiated claim that the new schedule would double attendance. 3. An unsubstantiated report may later prove accurate, but it does not yet justify a firm conclusion.

Objective: Understand inconclusive and choose it accurately in context.

inconclusive (adjective): Not providing enough evidence to settle a question or reach a definite conclusion. Context sentences 1. The trial was inconclusive because the two groups performed almost identically and several records were missing. 2. An inconclusive investigation left open both explanations for the damaged equipment. 3. The committee requested another sample after the first analysis produced inconclusive results.

Objective: Understand provisional and choose it accurately in context.

provisional (adjective): Accepted or arranged for the present but subject to later confirmation or change. Context sentences 1. The committee issued a provisional schedule while it waited for the auditorium's availability. 2. Her explanation remained provisional until the final set of measurements arrived. 3. The club granted provisional membership pending completion of the required training.

Objective: Understand putative and choose it accurately in context.

putative (adjective): Generally believed or supposed to be something, though not firmly established as such. Context sentences 1. The putative author of the unsigned essay was a local teacher, but no manuscript confirmed the attribution. 2. Researchers examined the putative cause of the discoloration while keeping several alternatives open. 3. The putative heir attended the meeting even though the court had not yet determined who would inherit.