SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
conclusive
adjective
Strong enough to settle a question or remove reasonable doubt.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
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Settling a question
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topConvincing can fall short of conclusive; conclusive evidence resolves the question at issue.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See conclusive in use
The dated photograph supplied conclusive evidence that the tower already existed.
A campus journalist was investigating why a delivery missed the student book fair. Her firsthand account came from watching the driver wait at a locked entrance, rather than hearing the story from another reporter. A time-stamped message could corroborate her observation that the driver had requested access. Neither item was conclusive about who had locked the door, however, so she separated what the material supported from the larger question that still required an answer.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license