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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

hypothetical en · ADJ

Pronunciation

  • (Mid-Atlantic, US) audio Maryland
  • [ˌhaɪpəˈθɛɾɪkɫ̩] (Canada, General-American)
  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /ˌhaɪpəˈθɛtɪkəl/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /ˌhaɪpəˈθɛtɪkəl/ (Canada, General-American)
  • [ˌhaɪpəˈθɛɾɪkəɫ] (Canada, General-American)

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ὑποθετικός (hupothetikós).

Meanings

  1. Based upon a hypothesis; conjectural.
    • To establish standing under Article III, a plaintiff must satisfy the following three requirements: (1) "the plaintiff must have suffered an injury in fact - an invasion of a legally protected interest which is (a) concrete and particularized, and (b) actual or imminent, not conjectural or hypothetical"; ... 2006, ACLU v. NSA (District Court opinion):
    • 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. 1882, Henry John Roby, chapter XVIII, in A Latin grammar for schools, London: MacMillan and Co., Book IV : Syntax or use of Inflexional Forms, page 258:
  2. Conditional; contingent upon some hypothesis/antecedent.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
most hypothetical Degree=Sup lexicographic
more hypothetical Degree=Cmp lexicographic

Antonyms

categorical (antonym(s) of “philosophy”) · actual

Deriveds

nonhypothetical · hypothetically · hypotheticality · unhypothetical · hypothetical baptism · hypothetical taxonomic unit · hypothetical imperative · antihypothetical

Translations (44)

tr farazi (based upon a hypothesis) · bg хипотети́чен (based upon a hypothesis) · ca hipotètic (based upon a hypothesis) · uk гіпотети́чний (based upon a hypothesis) · is skilyrtur (based upon a hypothesis) · es hipotético (based upon a hypothesis) · fa فرضی (based upon a hypothesis) · de hypothetisch (based upon a hypothesis) · it ipotetico (based upon a hypothesis) · nb tenkt (based upon a hypothesis) · nn tenkt (based upon a hypothesis) · cmn 假設的 /假设的 (based upon a hypothesis) · cs hypotetický (based upon a hypothesis) · pt hipotético (based upon a hypothesis) · fr hypothétique (based upon a hypothesis) · nb hypotetisk (based upon a hypothesis) · cmn 假定的 (based upon a hypothesis) · ka ჰიპოთეტიური (based upon a hypothesis) · hi काल्पनिक (based upon a hypothesis) · is reist á tilgátu (based upon a hypothesis) · be гіпатэты́чны (based upon a hypothesis) · gl hipotético (based upon a hypothesis) · ar اِفْتِرَاضِيّ (based upon a hypothesis) · tr varsayımsal (based upon a hypothesis) · tr kuramsal (based upon a hypothesis) · is skilyrt (based upon a hypothesis) · tl palagayin (based upon a hypothesis) · sk hypotetický (based upon a hypothesis) · tr varsayımlı (based upon a hypothesis) · ko 가설적 (based upon a hypothesis) · tr nazari (based upon a hypothesis) · da hypotetisk (based upon a hypothesis) · ms andaian (based upon a hypothesis) · fi hypoteettinen (based upon a hypothesis) · kk болжаулық (based upon a hypothesis) · el υποθετικός (based upon a hypothesis) · ro ipotetic (based upon a hypothesis) · sv hypotetisk (based upon a hypothesis) · kk гипотезалық (based upon a hypothesis) · ja 仮定の (based upon a hypothesis) · is reistur á tilgátu (based upon a hypothesis) · ru гипотети́ческий (based upon a hypothesis) · pl hipotetyczny (based upon a hypothesis) · nn hypotetisk (based upon a hypothesis)

hypothetical en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • (Mid-Atlantic, US) audio Maryland
  • [ˌhaɪpəˈθɛɾɪkɫ̩] (Canada, General-American)
  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /ˌhaɪpəˈθɛtɪkəl/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /ˌhaɪpəˈθɛtɪkəl/ (Canada, General-American)
  • [ˌhaɪpəˈθɛɾɪkəɫ] (Canada, General-American)

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ὑποθετικός (hupothetikós).

Meanings

  1. A possible or hypothetical situation or proposition.
    • These hypotheticals serve no purpose until we have more information.
    • He told ABC News: “Just to give you a hypothetical, we would respond by leading a Nato – a collective – effort that would take out every Russian conventional force that we can see and identify on the battlefield in Ukraine and also in Crimea and every ship in the Black sea.” 2022 October 2, Edward Helmore, quoting David Petraeus, “Petraeus: US would destroy Russia’s troops if Putin uses nuclear weapons in Ukraine”, in The Guardian:
    • Philosophers of doom tend to get hung up on elaborate sci-fi-inflected hypotheticals. 2024 March 18, Andrew Marantz, “О.К., Doomer”, in The New Yorker, page 45:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
hypotheticals Number=Plur lexicographic

Coordinates

counterfactual

Relateds

hypothesize · hypothesis