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| Main Entry: | |
| 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: | conjectural |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | speculative |
| Synonyms: | academic, assumed, doubtful, figured, guessing, guesstimated, hypothetical, on a hunch, on a long shot, putative, reputed, supposed, suppositional, suppositious, suppositive, surmised, surmising, suspect, tentative, theoretical, uncertain, unresolved |
| Antonyms: | certain, factual, proven, real, truthful |
| Main Entry: | dogmatic |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | based on absolute truth |
| Synonyms: | a priori, as a matter of course, assertive, authoritarian, authoritative, axiomatic, by fiat, by natural law, by nature, canonical, categorical, deducible, deductive, derivable, doctrinaire, doctrinal, eternal, excathedra, formal, imperative, inevitable, on faith, oracular, orthodox, peremptory, positive, pragmatic, prophetic, reasoned, systematic, theoretical, unchangeable, unerring, unqualified |
| Antonyms: | ambiguous, doubtful, dubious, equivocal, fluctuating, indecisive, not positive, uncertain, vacillating |
| Main Entry: | doubtful |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | not believing |
| Synonyms: | agnostic, baffled, confused, discomposed, disconcerted, distracted, distrustful, disturbed, doubting, dubious, equivocal, faithless, faltering, flustered, hesitant, hesitating, in a quandary, in clouds, in dilemma, indecisive, irresolute, like doubting Thomas, lost, not following, of two minds, perplexed, puzzled, questioning, skeptical, suspicious, tentative, theoretical, troubled, uncertain, unconvinced, undecided, unresolved, unsettled, unsure, vacillating, wavering, without belief |
| Notes: | a person is capable of doubting, whereas a thing is dubitable; dubious, unlike doubtful, carries the connotation of suspicion |
| Antonyms: | believing, certain, confident, convinced, sure, trusting |
| Main Entry: | fundamental |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | basic, important |
| Synonyms: | axiological, axiomatic, basal, bottom, bottom-line, cardinal, central, constitutional, constitutive, crucial, elemental, elementary, essential, first, foundational, grass-roots, indispensable, integral, intrinsic, key, major, meat-and-potatoes, necessary, organic, original, paramount, primary, prime, primitive, primordial, principal, radical, requisite, rudimentary, significant, structural, substratal, substrative, supporting, sustaining, theoretical, underived, underlying, vital |
| Antonyms: | additional, advanced, auxiliary, extra, minor, secondary, subordinate, trivial, unimportant |
| Main Entry: | hypothetical |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | guessed, assumed |
| Synonyms: | academic, assumptive, casual, concocted, conditional, conjecturable, conjectural, contestable, contingent, debatable, disputable, doubtful, equivocal, imaginary, imagined, indefinite, indeterminate, postulated, presumptive, presupposed, pretending, problematic, provisory, putative, questionable, refutable, speculative, stochastic, supposed, suppositional, suppositious, suspect, theoretic, theoretical, uncertain, unconfirmed, vague |
| Antonyms: | calculated, confirmed, factual, measured, proved, proven, real, reliable, truthful |
| Main Entry: | ideal |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | conceptual; impractical |
| Synonyms: | Utopian, abstract, chimerical, dreamlike, extravagant, fanciful, fictitious, high-flown, hypothetical, imaginary, in the clouds, intellectual, ivory-tower, mental, mercurial, notional, out-of-reach, quixotic, theoretical, transcendent, transcendental, unattainable, unearthly, unreal, visionary |
| Notes: | ideal means conforming to an ultimate standard of perfection or excellence; idealistic means of or pertaining to idealists or their theories, pursuing perfection |
| Antonyms: | actual, common, material, practical, pragmatic |
| Main Entry: | imaginary |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | fictitious, invented |
| Synonyms: | abstract, apocryphal, apparitional, assumed, chimerical, deceptive, delusive, dreamed-up, dreamlike, dreamy, fabulous, fancied, fanciful, fantastic, fictional, figmental, fool's paradise, hallucinatory, hypothetical, ideal, illusive, illusory, imaginative, imagined, legendary, made-up, mythological, nonexistent, notional, phantasmal, phantasmic, quixotic, shadowy, spectral, supposed, supposititious, theoretical, trumped up, unreal, unsubstantial, visionary, whimsical |
| Notes: | imaginary means not based on fact while imaginative means marked by independence and creativity in thought or action |
| Antonyms: | existing, factual, genuine, physical, real, substantial, true |
| Main Entry: | impractical/impracticable |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | unrealistic |
| Synonyms: | abstract, absurd, chimerical, idealistic, illogical, impossible, impracticable, improbable, inapplicable, inefficacious, infeasible, inoperable, irrealizable, ivory-tower, no-go, nonfunctional, nonviable, not a prayer, otherworldly, out of the question, quixotic, romantic, speculative, starry-eyed, theoretical, unattainable, unbusinesslike, unfeasible, unreal, unserviceable, unusable, unwise, unworkable, useless, visionary, wild, won't fly |
| Antonyms: | practicable, practical, probable, realistic, reasonable, tenable, viable |
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition
Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
