POSTULATES Synonyms: 110 Similar and Opposite Words

postulates 1 of 2

noun

plural of postulate

as in assumptions

something taken as being true or factual and used as a starting point for a course of action or reasoning one of the postulates that the true agnostic rejects is the assumption that it is even possible for us to know whether God exists

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

postulates

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of postulate

as in assumes

to take as true or as a fact without actual proof postulates that all people are born with certain rights that can never be taken away from them

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of postulates

Noun

Not really Dagmar Bruss, professor and Head of the Quantum Information Theory group at HHU, and her doctoral researcher, Pedro Barrios Hita, conducted a new analysis of the postulates used in the 2021 paper and found one to be too restrictive. — Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 22 June 2026 Another postulates that sleep removes waste from the brain. — Shayla Love, New Yorker, 18 Feb. 2026

Verb

One of the theories postulates that the ribbon represents a group of particles that somehow leaked from the heliosphere and bounced around interstellar space before returning to the Solar System. — Kyle Orland, ArsTechnica, 24 Sep. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for postulates

Noun

Even watching a magic trick can challenge our assumptions about the world and stimulate more original thinking.

— Julie Bourdin, NPR, 25 Oct. 2026
In the short term, slowing demand would mean lower emissions from the existing system than today’s baseline assumptions and less investment in new natural gas infrastructure.

— Justin Worland, Time, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of assumptions

Verb

In our example of the pond, simply comparing the number of possibilities assumes that each stone emits a wave independently.

— Philipp Strasberg, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
For any executive whose roadmap assumes compute capacity coming online on schedule, that is now a line item.

— Zev Laine, Forbes.com, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of assumes

Verb

That the first foreign policy message after the victory went to Moscow, and through a Russian state outlet, says a good deal about where the new government’s instincts lie.

— Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 27 Oct. 2026
Because food can be scarce there and people fear theft, individuals will store rice in their dirt-floor homes, Wagner says, allowing close contact with the rats that infest the island.

— Faye Flam, Scientific American, 27 Oct. 2026

Definition of says

Noun

Their science fair projects – a bird feeder and a device producing the smoothest smoothies – were also crafted with AI assistance after developing their own hypotheses and plans.

— Dalia Faheid, CNN Money, 26 Oct. 2026
The Danish company said further work is needed to confirm the hypotheses of two post-study analyses.

— Annika Kim Constantino, CNBC, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of hypotheses

Verb

The decree, which must be converted to law by parliament within 60 days, also automatically presumes that anyone over age 14 is capable of understanding their own actions, unless proven otherwise.

— ABC News, ABC News, 20 Oct. 2026
Homeownership has long been a marker of the American Dream, but this dream presumes autonomy, voice and equitable treatment.

— Stephanie A. Dhuman, The Conversation, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of presumes

Verb

Cancio also believes rising rents are to blame for the struggling businesses on Miracle Mile and the rest of the Gables commercial district.

— Michelle Marchante, Miami Herald, 23 Oct. 2026
The 20-minute call, which Aris believes the military monitored, offered a rare glimpse of how the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate is being held.

— Lorcan Lovett, NPR, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of believes

Verb

The club was found in a living area, next to bones, stone tools, and a hearth, so the team hypothesizes it’s been used for everyday work rather than ceremony.

— Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 9 Oct. 2026
The new study, however, hypothesizes that shell direction is not itself an adaptive response, but rather is an accidental marker of a significant evolutionary event that starts in a small subpopulation and then sweeps across vast ocean basins.

— Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of hypothesizes

Browse Nearby Words

postulated

postulates

postulating

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Postulates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/postulates. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of postulates

noun

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

milieu

Popular in Grammar & Usage

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Popular in Wordplay

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE

Popular

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes