factual basis
Truth underlying claims
A factual basis is the underlying facts that support a claim, argument, or legal proceeding.
In law, a defendant entering a guilty plea must establish a factual basis—demonstrating that actual events support the charge: The judge asked the prosecutor to establish a factual basis for the plea.
More broadly, any assertion may be questioned for its factual basis: Your theory has no factual basis.
- proofDemonstration of truth
- smoking gunIrrefutable proof of wrongdoing
- corroborationEvidence confirming another account
- supporting evidenceFacts validating a claim
- documentationWritten proof or instructions
hard evidence · matter of record · ground truth · substantiation · accuracy · authentication · burden of proof · admissibility · reliability · validity · evidentiary · data · confirmation · verifiable · probative · prima facie · on the record · record
- Shakespeare's historieskings, queens, English history, monarchy, succession
- legal presumptionspresumption, presumption of innocence, presumption of death
- plea dealsplea bargain, plea deal, plea agreement, plea negotiation, guilty plea
factual basishearsay
Unverified secondhand information
rumor · guesswork · assumption · supposition · presumption
factual basisfabrication
Deliberately untrue statement
fiction · invention · fantasy · falsehood · wild guess
factual basislack of evidence
Absence of proof
emotional reasoning · gut feeling · intuition · blind faith · prejudice