probabilistic
adjective
prob·a·bi·lis·tic
ˌprä-bə-bə-ˈli-stik 
1
: of or relating to probabilism
2
: of, relating to, or based on probability
Examples of probabilistic in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The outcome of measurements within quantum theory appears to be probabilistic.
—
Thomas Lewton, Quanta Magazine, 10 July 2023
One, known as probabilistic event attribution, is used to estimate how much human behavior has contributed to the odds of a certain kind of event occurring, such as a heat wave.
—Lois Parshley, Scientific American, 16 May 2023
One of the challenges of doing this sort of behavioral science with animals is distinguishing between probabilistic reasoning and basic numerical abilities.
—John Timmer, Ars Technica, 4 May 2023
Ideas from probabilistic Turing machines have been shown to be practically useful in areas such as cryptography, optimization and machine learning.
—Sheon Han, Quanta Magazine, 3 May 2023
These days, as chatbots enter the limelight, and compression methods are used more in AI, the value of understanding things in many ways and using probabilistic predictions will only grow in importance.
—John McCarthy, IEEE Spectrum, 6 May 2023
Another uncomfortable conclusion is that the quantum universe is governed by probabilistic behavior.
—The Physics Arxiv Blog, Discover Magazine, 15 Feb. 2022
Earth’s climate, for example, supervenes on Newton’s deterministic laws of motion, but weather reports are probabilistic, whereas seasonal and longer-term climate trends are again predictable.
—George Musser, Scientific American, 1 Sep. 2015
In fact, a knowledge of probability theory, queuing theory, and all of this probabilistic math, is the basis of engineering networks.
—IEEE Spectrum, 29 Mar. 2023
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Thomas Lewton, Quanta Magazine, 10 July 2023
One, known as probabilistic event attribution, is used to estimate how much human behavior has contributed to the odds of a certain kind of event occurring, such as a heat wave.
—Lois Parshley, Scientific American, 16 May 2023
One of the challenges of doing this sort of behavioral science with animals is distinguishing between probabilistic reasoning and basic numerical abilities.
—John Timmer, Ars Technica, 4 May 2023
Ideas from probabilistic Turing machines have been shown to be practically useful in areas such as cryptography, optimization and machine learning.
—Sheon Han, Quanta Magazine, 3 May 2023
These days, as chatbots enter the limelight, and compression methods are used more in AI, the value of understanding things in many ways and using probabilistic predictions will only grow in importance.
—John McCarthy, IEEE Spectrum, 6 May 2023
Another uncomfortable conclusion is that the quantum universe is governed by probabilistic behavior.
—The Physics Arxiv Blog, Discover Magazine, 15 Feb. 2022
Earth’s climate, for example, supervenes on Newton’s deterministic laws of motion, but weather reports are probabilistic, whereas seasonal and longer-term climate trends are again predictable.
—George Musser, Scientific American, 1 Sep. 2015
In fact, a knowledge of probability theory, queuing theory, and all of this probabilistic math, is the basis of engineering networks.
—IEEE Spectrum, 29 Mar. 2023
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'probabilistic.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1864, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Dictionary Entries Near probabilistic
Cite this Entry
“Probabilistic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/probabilistic. Accessed 26 Sep. 2023.
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