Meaning & use
ipso facto
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UK/ˌɪpsəʊ ˈfæktəʊ/
US/ˌɪpsoʊ ˈfæktoʊ/
Meaning
adverbnot comparableformal
By that very fact alone, with no further step needed.
Grammar: Fixed phrase placed within a clause.
A person who breaks the law is not ipso facto a bad person.
The law states that a citizen born there is ipso facto a member.
Being old does not ipso facto make you wise.
Common combinations
- not ipso facto
- Wealth is not ipso facto happiness.
- is ipso facto
- Silence is ipso facto consent, the lawyer argued.
- ipso facto guilty
- He is not ipso facto guilty.
- ipso facto void
- The contract became ipso facto void.
Synonyms and how they differ
- automatically
- Is the everyday word.
- by definition
- Is common in speech and stresses meaning.
- necessarily
- Is usually used in negatives.
- thereby
- Means by that means.
Commonly confused: ipso facto or ad hoc? ipso facto or de facto?
ipso facto vs ad hoc
Ad hoc means for this particular purpose, not as a result of a fact.
ipso facto vs de facto
De facto means in reality, whether or not official.
Practice
Which sentence uses ipso facto correctly?
Choose one answer.
Ipso facto means by that fact alone, so it works when a conclusion does or does not follow automatically.
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