| Main Entry: | speculative |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | theoretical |
Synonyms: |
abstract, analytical, assumed, conceptive, dangerous, dicey, experimental, formularized, hairy, hazardous, hypothetical, ideal, idealized, ideological, iffy, in theory, intellectual, logical, notional, philosophical, presumed, risky, uncertain, unproved, unproven, unsubstantiated |
| 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: | 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: | 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 |