notional

adjective

no·​tion·​al ˈnō-sh(ə-)nəl 

1

: theoretical, speculative

2

: existing in the mind only : imaginary

3

: given to foolish or fanciful moods or ideas

4

a

: of, relating to, or being a notion or idea : conceptual

b(1)

: presenting an idea of a thing, action, or quality

has is notional in he has luck, relational in he has gone

(2)

: of or representing what exists or occurs in the world of things as distinguished from syntactic categories

notionality

ˌnō-shə-ˈna-lə-tē 

noun

notionally

ˈnō-sh(ə-)nə-lē 

adverb

Synonyms

• abstract
• conceptual
• ideal
• ideational
• metaphysical
• theoretical
• theoretic

Examples of notional in a Sentence

The notional earnings of the company were close to the actual ones.

she has a notional understanding of romantic love but no actual experience of being in love

Recent Examples on the Web

Nando and Roberto, who trek eastwards towards Chile in search of help, may be the notional heroes, but the film is rather poignant in its resistance, against the conventional rules of screenwriting, to singling them out as such. —Guy Lodge, Variety, 9 Sep. 2023

Answers to questions about the former president’s legal troubles March 20, 2023 In 2016, a Trump presidency was notional. —Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 29 Mar. 2023

Mid-sized companies are moving toward liquidity optimization solutions to reduce their overreliance on credit facilities, including notional pooling or target balancing. —Tasnim Ghiawadwala, Fortune, 15 Aug. 2023

For the moment, the Jayapal test is politically useful for House Republicans, during the week that President Isaac Herzog visits them and one day after Biden finally extended a notional invitation to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a meeting. —Philip Elliott, Time, 19 July 2023

So, this notional bank would be gold itself, right? Maybe. —Erika Page, The Christian Science Monitor, 16 Mar. 2023

Service vessels needed to support these notional projects are not set up, nor is a workforce plan in place to train the 100,000 maritime workers that will be needed across the Blue Economy if these technologies were to reach their full potential in the upcoming decade. —Craig Hooper, Forbes, 26 May 2022

Defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. also reported higher notional hedge amounts during its most recent quarter, quarterly filings show. —Nina Trentmann, WSJ, 7 Nov. 2022

Those are all notional. —Corey S Powell, Discover Magazine, 17 Aug. 2013

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Word History

First Known Use

1597, in the meaning defined at sense 1