hypothetically

adverb

hy·​po·​thet·​i·​cal·​ly ˌhī-pə-ˈthe-ti-k(ə-)lē 

: by making an assumption for the sake of discussion or argument : in a hypothetical way

speaking hypothetically

In this lucid report … he uses genetic differences, maps, computer simulations and an analysis of linguistic changes in the world's languages to hypothetically reconstruct the mass migrations of people across continents since modern humans first appeared.

—Genevieve Stuttaford

We asked ourselves hypothetically: If the chairmen of the boards of these major tobacco companies walked in here today and said, "Okay, we're ready to do a deal," what did we want?

—Lewis H. Lapham

—used to suggest what is theoretically possible

Hypothetically, you could use a computer to synthesize a large number of harmonics, add them back together, and reproduce a sound similar to that of the bowed violin string.

—Dragan Huterer

Examples of hypothetically in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

So hypothetically, should the House flip and Democrats take control, the Republicans on the committee would have to dump six members. —Tax Notes Staff, Forbes, 4 Sep. 2024

Although Ortega was speaking hypothetically, there won’t be a Jamie Bond, since its franchise producer Barbara Broccoli has said many times that 007 will always be played by a man. —Tomás Mier, Rolling Stone, 3 Sep. 2024

The defendants further warn of other possible ventures such as, hypothetically, CBS and NBCU joining forces to compete against Venu Sports. —Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 12 Aug. 2024

Lively flippantly dismisses the question as a joke about hypothetically not sharing her location or phone number with those fans instead of, as many would have preferred, promoting domestic violence services. —Alex Abad-Santos, Vox, 15 Aug. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1593, in the meaning defined above