hypothetical

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Related to hypothetical: hypothetical imperative

hy·po·thet·i·cal

(hī′pə-thĕt′ĭ-kəl)

adj. also hy·po·thet·ic (-thĕt′ĭk)

1. Of, relating to, or based on a hypothesis: a hypothetical situation.

2. Conditional; contingent: the hypothetical meaning of a clause beginning with if.

A hypothetical circumstance, condition, scenario, or situation: OK, let's consider this possibility then—just as a hypothetical.

[From Greek hupothetikos, from hupothetos, placed under, supposed, from hupotithenai, to suppose; see hypothesis.]

hy′po·thet′i·cal·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

hypothetical

(ˌhaɪpəˈθɛtɪkəl) or

hypothetic

adj

1. having the nature of a hypothesis

2. assumed or thought to exist

3. (Logic) logic another word for conditional⁴

4. existing only as an idea or concept: a time machine is a hypothetical device.

ˌhypoˈthetically adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

hy•po•thet•i•cal

(ˌhaɪ pəˈθɛt ɪ kəl)

adj. Also, hy`po•thet′ic.

1. assumed to exist by hypothesis; supposed; conjectural: a hypothetical case.

2. of, involving, or characterized by hypothesis: hypothetical reasoning.

3. a hypothetical statement, situation, instance, etc.

[1580–90; < Greek hypothetik(ós) supposed (hypo(ti)thé(nai) to suppose (see hypothesis) + -tikos -tic) + -al¹]

hy`po•thet′i•cal•ly, adv.

hy·po·thet·i·cal

(hī′pə-thĕt′ĭ-kəl)

Relating to or based on a hypothesis: a hypothetical state of matter that has not yet been shown to exist.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Noun	1.	hypothetical - a hypothetical possibility, circumstance, statement, proposal, situation, etc.; "consider the following, just as a hypothetical" hypothesis, theory, possibility - a tentative insight into the natural world; a concept that is not yet verified but that if true would explain certain facts or phenomena; "a scientific hypothesis that survives experimental testing becomes a scientific theory"; "he proposed a fresh theory of alkalis that later was accepted in chemical practices"
Adj.	1.	hypothetical - based primarily on surmise rather than adequate evidence; "theories about the extinction of dinosaurs are still highly conjectural"; "the supposed reason for his absence"; "suppositious reconstructions of dead languages"; "hypothetical situation" conjectural, hypothetic, suppositional, suppositious, supposititious, divinatory, supposed theoretic, theoretical - concerned primarily with theories or hypotheses rather than practical considerations; "theoretical science"

hypothetical

adjective theoretical, supposed, academic, assumed, imaginary, speculative, putative, conjectural a purely hypothetical question
known, real, proven, true, established, confirmed, actual

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

hypothetical

adjective

1. Existing only in concept and not in reality:

abstract, hypothetic, ideal, theoretic, theoretical, transcendent, transcendental.

2. Presumed to be true, real, or genuine, especially on inconclusive grounds:

conjectural, hypothetic, inferential, presumptive, supposed, suppositional, suppositious, supposititious, suppositive.

Translations

إفْتِراضيافتراضي

hypotetickýpředpokládaný

hypotetisk

hypothetisch

hipotético

hypoteettinen

hypothétique

reistur á tilgátu/ímyndaîri forsendu

ipotetico ipotizzabile

가설적

hypotetisk tenkt

hypotetický

hypotetisk

hipotetikvarsayıma dayalı

假设的

hypothetical

[ˌhaɪpəʊˈθetɪkəl] ADJ → hipotético

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

hypothetical

[ˌhaɪpəˈθɛtɪk^əl]

adj [situation, question] → hypothétique

n → hypothèse f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

hypothetical

adj → hypothetisch, angenommen; purely hypothetical → reine Hypothese

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

hypothetical

[ˌhaɪpəʊˈθɛtɪk/əl] adj → ipotetico/a

hypothesis

(haiˈpoθəsis) – plural hyˈpotheses (-siːz) – noun

an unproved theory or point of view put forward, eg for the sake of argument.

hypothetical (haipəˈθetikəl) adjective

imaginary; supposed.

hypothetically (haipəˈθetikəli) adverb

References in classic literature ?

I mean that, in attempting to state the PROXIMATE cause of the present event, some past event or events must be included, unless we take refuge in hypothetical modifications of brain structure.) For example: you smell peat-smoke, and you recall some occasion when you smelt it before.

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Astor to Captain Sowle, the commander of the Beaver, were, in some respects, hypothetical, in consequence of the uncertainty resting upon the previous steps of the enterprise.

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That was a hypothetical case, arising out of Sir Leicester's unconsciously carrying the matter with so high a hand.

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If this be truly the case, the hypothetical dread of the too great weight of the Senate ought to be discarded from our reasonings.

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Presents are made to the Boffin servants, and bland strangers with business- cards meeting said servants in the street, offer hypothetical corruption.

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Of course the dilemma was purely hypothetical; since he wasn't a blackguard Polish nobleman, it was absurd to speculate what his wife's rights would be if he WERE.

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Thus:--There are two subdivisions, in the lower or which the soul uses the figures given by the former division as images; the enquiry can only be hypothetical, and instead of going upwards to a principle descends to the other end; in the higher of the two, the soul passes out of hypotheses, and goes up to a principle which is above hypotheses, making no use of images as in the former case, but proceeding only in and through the ideas themselves.

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Wopsle reviewed the sermon with some severity, and intimated - in the usual hypothetical case of the Church being "thrown open" - what kind of sermon he would have given them.

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The second question is not less delicate; and the flattering prospect of its being merely hypothetical forbids an overcurious discussion of it.

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This idea is le bien public, the hypothetical welfare of other people.

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The body of the telegram was devoted to hypothetical topics in order to show him the freedom of range that was to be his.

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The Protagoras arrived at a sort of hypothetical conclusion, that if 'virtue is knowledge, it can be taught.' In the Euthydemus, Socrates himself offered an example of the manner in which the true teacher may draw out the mind of youth; this was in contrast to the quibbling follies of the Sophists.