| Main Entry: | empirical/empiric |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | practical; based on experience |
Synonyms: |
experient, experiential, experimental, factual, observational, observed, pragmatic, provisional |
Antonyms: |
hypothetical, impractical, speculative, theoretical, unobserved |
| Main Entry: | experimental |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | exploratory |
Synonyms: |
beginning, developmental, empirical, experiential, first stage, laboratory, momentary, on approval, pilot, preliminary, preparatory, primary, probationary, provisional, speculative, temporary, tentative, test, trial, trial-and-error, unconcluded, under probation, unproved |
Antonyms: |
proven, tested, tried |
| Main Entry: | empirical |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | practical |
Synonyms: |
empiric, experient, experiential, experimental, factual, observational, observed, pragmatic, provisional, speculative |
| Notes: | empirical describes results determined by experiment and observed behavior or facts; theoretical describes results that are based on guesswork or hypothesis - and pragmatic is contrasted with theoretical on the grounds that the former proceeds from what is demonstrably practical, the latter from conjecture |
Antonyms: |
conjectural, hypothetical, impractical, theoretic, theoretical, unobserved, unproved |