hypothetical

adjective

hy·​po·​thet·​i·​cal ˌhī-pə-ˈthe-ti-kəl 

: involving or being based on a suggested idea or theory : being or involving a hypothesis : conjectural

hypothetical arguments

a hypothetical situation

hypothetical noun

Synonyms of hypothetical

• theoretical
• speculative

Examples of hypothetical in a Sentence

She described a hypothetical case to clarify her point.

we talked about what we would do in various hypothetical emergencies

Recent Examples on the Web

The Republic used this scenario, roughly described by Arizona Department of Water Resources Director Tom Buschatzke in an interview, as a hypothetical benchmark for understanding the possible effects of water cuts on Arizona's cities. —Austin Corona, AZCentral.com, 6 Nov. 2025

Objective reasonableness, meanwhile, asks whether a hypothetical reasonable person would have also used force given the same circumstances. —Noe Padilla, IndyStar, 6 Nov. 2025

Companies themselves worked with everything from 0 to 80 per cent; Microsoft’s hypothetical decarbonization pathway appeared to count on close to 50. —Literary Hub, 5 Nov. 2025

Their hypothetical $100 starts to lose its value each day the money isn’t spent. —Leslie Picker, CNBC, 4 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1588, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for hypothetical

• alphabetical
• antithetical
• arithmetical
• catechetical
• exegetical
• homiletical
• parenthetical
• theoretical
• aesthetical
• genetical
• heretical
• magnetical

Kids Definition

hypothetical

adjective

hy·​po·​thet·​i·​cal ˌhi-pə-ˈthet-i-kəl 

1

: involving a hypothesis or the making of assumptions : assumed

2

: imagined for purposes of example

a hypothetical case

hypothetically

-i-k(ə-)lē 

adverb