Seth Shostak

Sending greeting cards to aliens is hardly a new idea. In 2005, Craigslist solicited messages for broadcast to space by a transmitter in Florida, and in 2008, NASA beamed a Beatles song to the North Star (Polaris), on the assumption that any putative Polarians would appreciate the Fab Four's 1960s-genre compositions.

American Scientist

A century ago, scientists believed there was only one obvious stomping ground for alien biology in our solar system: Mars. Because it was reminiscent of Earth, Mars was assumed to be chock-a-block with animate beings, and its putative inhabitants got a lot of column inches and screen time.

William Gibson

I'm quite good friends with the putative director, Vincenzo Natali, and I'm a big fan of his work, but beyond that, I don't like to talk about other people's work work-in-progress.

American Writer

James L. Buckley

The kind of corruption the media talk about, the kind the Supreme Court was concerned about, involves the putative sale of votes in exchange for campaign contributions.

American Politician

Use 'putative' to express that something is assumed but not proven or confirmed.

Implied Uncertainty

'Putative' adds a formal tone and is often used in scholarly texts or discussions.

Academic Tone

Pair 'putative' with nouns relating to people or causes to imply their apparent role or effect.

Collocation Patterns

In legal settings, 'putative' can imply a person's perceived role or status before it's legally confirmed.

Legal Context

When using 'putative' in legal discussions, be aware that it assumes status without full proof.

Assume Carefully

'Putative' is used in technical discussions to denote assumed functions or relationships.

Technical Nuance

 They're held as membranes because they're in water. Take away the water, those membranes fall apart. Lipids also act as signals to turn on genes. Then we use physiological and biochemical studies to try and understand the function of the putative protectants that we've actually discovered in our other studies.