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

If Triplets doesn't come together, there are still an abundance of other Arnold classics that could hypothetically bring the star's son in for a legacy sequel. —Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 5 June 2025

However, Opus models process context more deeply and are hypothetically better suited for running deep logical tasks. —ArsTechnica, 22 May 2025

However, many of her former castmates have children who could hypothetically appear on the show in some capacity. —Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 20 May 2025

Perhaps the Scottish actor was just speaking hypothetically. —Glenn Garner, Deadline, 7 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1593, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for hypothetically

• apologetically
• photosynthetically
• phylogenetically
• aesthetically
• esthetically
• genetically
• kinetically
• phonetically
• poetically
• prophetically
• synthetically
• alphabetically