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circumstantial

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Etymology

From Latin circumstantia + English -al, equivalent to circumstance +‎ -ial.

Pronunciation

Adjective

circumstantial (comparative more circumstantial, superlative most circumstantial)

  1. Pertaining to or dependent on circumstances, especially as opposed to essentials; incidental, not essential.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:circumstantial
    • 1754, John Sharp, Sermons:
      We must therefore distinguish between the essentials in religious worship […] and what is merely circumstantial.
    • 2000 September 7, Henry Gee, “Eating people - is it bad taste?”, in The Guardian‎, →ISSN, archived from the original on 9 May 2014:
      Evidence for cannibalism abounds - even if circumstantial - both from the modern world and throughout history, but academic anthropology has found itself in a funk of denial.
  2. (law) Involving evidence that relies on inference to connect it to a conclusion of fact, thus, suggesting guilt but not directly proving it.
    It is unlikely he will be convicted; the evidence against him is circumstantial at best.
    • 1920, Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, London: Pan Books, published 1954, page 162:
      Never, he said, in the course of his long experience, had he known a charge of murder rest on slighter evidence. Not only was it entirely circumstantial, but the greater part of it was practically unproved.
  3. Abounding with minor circumstances; in great detail; particular.
    • 1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, V.ii:
      My Unkle's account is more circumstantial I must confess—but I believe mine is the true one for all that.
    • 1806, James Wilkinson, Letter to Thomas Jefferson (October 21, 1806) (part of Burr conspiracy)
      For although my information appears too direct and circumstantial to be fictitious, yet the magnitude of the enterprise, the desperation of the plan, and the stupendous consequences with which it seems pregnant, stagger my belief […]
    • 2007, John Burrow, A History of Histories, Penguin, published 2009, page 326:
      Second-hand but clearly from the best possible source - the King himself - [the story] is highly circumstantial, taking twenty-two pages of text.
  4. Full of circumstance or pomp; ceremonial.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

circumstantial (plural circumstantials)

  1. (chiefly in the plural) Something incidental to the main subject, but of less importance.
    Antonym: essential
    the circumstantials of religion

Translations

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