variants:
or less commonly Ockham's razor
Definition of Occam's razor
: a scientific and philosophical rule that entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily which is interpreted as requiring that the simplest of competing theories be preferred to the more complex or that explanations of unknown phenomena be sought first in terms of known quantities
Test Your Vocabulary
Name That Food
-
- Name these cookies!

Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!
TAKE THE QUIZ
A daily challenge for crossword fanatics.
TAKE THE QUIZLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share Occam's razor
Time Traveler for Occam's razor
The first known use of Occam's razor was in 1852
See more words from the same year