hypothetical
/ˌhʌɪpəˈθɛtɪk(ə)l
/adjective
1Based on or serving as a hypothesis: let us take a hypothetical case...
- Estimates that do exist are based on hypothetical projections from local investigations with questionable validity.
- The identification of risk starts with considering hypothetical scenarios based on past experience, i.e., the ‘what if’ approach.
- The analysis was based on a hypothetical cohort of 60-year-old medical patients being treated for acute respiratory failure.
1.1Supposed but not necessarily real or true: the hypothetical tenth planet...
- Of course, it is a mistake to suppose that a hypothetical future state of perfect toleration means toleration in or of the present: far from it.
- There is no light coming from the casements in the lower part of this hypothetical window - supposing the design to be similar to the other windows.
- And that's assuming some hypothetical ideal of day care.
Synonyms
theoretical, speculative, conjectured, imagined, notional, suppositional;
supposed, assumed, presumed, putative;
made up, unreal;
academic
1.2 Logic Denoting or containing a proposition of the logical form if p then q.What of hypothetical propositions like if it is raining now, then either it is raining or it is snowing?...
- For some time, legal scholars invoked the dilemma of the ‘equal opportunity harasser’ as a hypothetical paradox.
- They compared the difficulties of concrete versus abstract and factual versus hypothetical contexts for word problems.
noun (usually hypotheticals)
A hypothetical proposition or statement: officials refuse to discuss military policy except in coy hypotheticals...
- The majority wrongly dismissed these as hypotheticals when in fact such takings are already occurring throughout the country.
- I might quibble with details of Wax's hypotheticals.
- This provides some interesting hypotheticals.
