Empirically

adv

adv ·5 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adverb
  1. 1
    Based on experience as opposed to theoretical knowledge.

    "I have no idea why this works, but empirically, it works."

  2. 2
    Based on data and evidence gathered in the real world.

    "We need to test this idea empirically instead of just speculating about it."

Adverb
  1. 1
    in an empirical manner wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
by trial and errorthrough empirical observationthrough empirical observation

Example

More examples

"Philosophy is a science, and as such has no articles of faith; accordingly, in it nothing can be assumed as existing except what is either positively given empirically, or demonstrated through indubitable conclusions."

Etymology

From empirical + -ly.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.