Hypothetical

//ˌhaɪpəˈθɛtɪkəl// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A possible or hypothetical situation or proposition.

    "These hypotheticals serve no purpose until we have more information."

  2. 2
    a hypothetical possibility, circumstance, statement, proposal, situation, etc. wordnet
Adjective
  1. 1
    Based upon a hypothesis; conjectural.

    "Such a subjunctive as appears in the principal clause (i.e. the apodosis) of a conditional sentence may be called a hypothetical subjunctive. An hypothetical subjunctive expresses an action¹ which, while its non-occurrence is implied, is yet supposed to occur, if some other action occur."

  2. 2
    Conditional; contingent upon some hypothesis/antecedent.
Adjective
  1. 1
    based primarily on surmise rather than adequate evidence wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
conditionalconjecturalsupposititiousa fortioria posterioria priori

Example

More examples

"It was just a hypothetical question."

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ὑποθετικός (hupothetikós).

Related phrases

hypothetical baptismhypothetical imperativehypothetical taxonomic unit

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