| Main Entry: | academic |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | relating to theories, philosophy |
Synonyms: |
abstract, closet, conjectural, formalistic, hypothetical, notional, speculative, theoretical |
Antonyms: |
ordinary, plain, practical, simple |
| Main Entry: | formal |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | established, orderly |
Synonyms: |
academic, approved, ceremonial, ceremonialistic, ceremonious, confirmed, conventional, decorous, directed, explicit, express, fixed, formalistic, lawful, legal, methodical, official, precise, prescribed, pro forma, proper, punctilious, regular, rigid, ritual, ritualistic, set, solemn, stately, stereotyped, stereotypical, strict, systematic |
Antonyms: |
disorderly, informal, relaxed |
| Main Entry: | punctilious |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | careful, finicky |
Synonyms: |
ceremonious, conscientious, conscionable, conventional, exact, formal, formalistic, fussy, good eye, heedful, meticulous, nice, observant, overconscientious, overscrupulous, painstaking, particular, persnickety, precise, proper, punctual, right on, scrupulous, strict |
Antonyms: |
careless, easy-going, informal, uncaring |
| Main Entry: | theoretical |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | hypothetical |
Synonyms: |
abstract, academic, analytical, as a premise, assumed, codified, conjectural, contingent, formalistic, formularized, general, ideal, idealized, ideational, ideological, imaginative, impractical, in the abstract, in theory, instanced, intellectual, logical, metaphysical, notional, on paper, pedantic, philosophical, postulated, presumed, problematical, pure, quixotic, speculative, suppositional, tentative, transcendent, transcendental, unearthly, unproved, unsubstantiated, vague |
| 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: |
certain, definite, factual, proven, real |
| Main Entry: | ritualistic |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | formal |
Synonyms: |
ceremonial, conventional, established, formalistic, reverent |
| Main Entry: | structural |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | fundamental |
Synonyms: |
anatomic, anatomical, architectural, basic, constitutional, constructural, formalistic, formational, formative, organic, skeletal, tectonic |
| Main Entry: | hypothetic |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | theoretical |
Synonyms: |
abstract, academic, analytical, as a premise, assumed, codified, conjectural, contingent, formalistic, formularized, general, hypothetical, ideal, idealized, ideational, ideological, imaginative, impractical, in the abstract, in theory, instanced, intelle |
| Main Entry: | inkhorn |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | pedantic |
Synonyms: |
abstruse, academic, arid, bookish, didactic, doctrinaire, donnish, dry, dull, egotistic, erudite, formal, formalistic, fussy, hairsplitting, learned, literary, nit-picking, ostentatious, overnice, particular, pedagogic, pedantical, pompous, priggish, punctilious, scholastic, schoolish, sententious, stilted |
| Main Entry: | pedantical |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | pedantic |
Synonyms: |
abstruse, academic, arid, bookish, didactic, doctrinaire, donnish, dry, dull, egotistic, erudite, formal, formalistic, fussy, hairsplitting, inkhorn, learned, literary, nit-picking, ostentatious, overnice, particular, pedagogic, pompous, priggish, punctilious, scholastic, schoolish, sententious, stilted |
| Main Entry: | theoretic |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | theoretical |
Synonyms: |
abstract, academic, analytical, as a premise, assumed, codified, conjectural, contingent, formalistic, formularized, general, hypothetic, hypothetical, ideal, idealized, ideational, ideological, imaginative, impractical, in the abstract, in theory, instanced, intellectual, logical, metaphysical, notional, on paper, pedantic, philosophical, postulated, presumed, problematical, pure, quixotic, speculative, suppositional, tentative, transcendent, transcendental, unearthly, unproved, unsubstantiated, vague |