abductive.

Using observed facts to infer an explanation that would account for them, without guaranteeing that it is true.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• abductive reasoning
• abductive inference

On the page

The investigator used abductive reasoning to explain the missing records.

Her abductive inference accounted for the pattern but left alternatives open.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic. Forms: Normally non-gradable as a reasoning classification. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.