exploratory

adjective

Definition of exploratorynext
as in experimental
done or created to find something or to learn more about something exploratory drilling for oil

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of exploratory Among the potential contenders to take his place is Troy Jackson, the former Democratic president of the Maine state Senate (an exploratory committee filed official paperwork on his behalf). — Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 8 July 2026 An exploratory committee has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on behalf of Jackson. — Barbara Sprunt, NPR, 8 July 2026 Jackson filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday to launch a Senate exploratory committee. — ABC News, 8 July 2026 What began as something loose and exploratory, from a budding musician who’s been writing songs since early adolescence, suddenly carried weight. — Jonathan Cohen, SPIN, 6 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for exploratory
Recent Examples of Synonyms for exploratory
  1. experimental
  2. investigative
  3. speculative
  4. tentative
  5. preliminary
  6. theoretical
Adjective
  • For now, the technology remains firmly in the experimental stage.
    — Elsa Ohlen,Carolin Roth, CNBC, 18 July 2026
  • Nonlocality, whose experimental verification helped earn the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics, allows distant quantum systems to produce correlations that cannot be explained by classical physics alone.
    — Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 18 July 2026
Definition of experimental
Adjective
  • Laura Bauer, who came to The Kansas City Star in 2005, focuses on investigative and watchdog journalism.
    — Laura Bauer, Kansas City Star, 24 July 2026
  • The scenes with Congressman Daniel Keene and disgraced investigative reporter Helen Drew are especially intense.
    — Noel Murray, Vulture, 24 July 2026
Definition of investigative
Adjective
  • Outcompeting China also requires publicly funding the basic scientific research that is too speculative to attract private capital.
    — Craig Garthwaite, Fortune, 24 July 2026
  • The speculative nattering kicked in at around the same time the last scrap of golden confetti had found a resting place on the turf at, um, New York New Jersey Stadium.
    — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 24 July 2026
Definition of speculative
Adjective
  • If Argentina sought to destabilise the English, the beginning to the final against Spain was more tentative.
    — Adam Crafton, New York Times, 20 July 2026
  • Instead, cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema’s lens emphasizes the wildness of the landscape in a way that suggests how tentative civilization’s hold on this place is.
    — Alison Willmore, Vulture, 15 July 2026
Definition of tentative
Adjective
  • Both parties would need to present a longform document with the terms of the agreement, which would need preliminary approval from a judge.
    — Ilana Arougheti July 23, Kansas City Star, 23 July 2026
  • Dell Technologies , Hewlett Packard Enterprise — Super Micro Computer’s surge spilled over to its server peers, with the group as a whole boosted by the better-than-expected preliminary results.
    — Davis Giangiulio, CNBC, 22 July 2026
Definition of preliminary
Adjective
  • The OpenAI incident demonstrates that these capabilities are no longer theoretical.
    — Emil Sayegh, Forbes.com, 23 July 2026
  • Perhaps more surprisingly, Anthropic has in recent weeks also picked up a Stanford economist, a theoretical physicist from the University of Maryland, and an analytic philosopher from UT Austin.
    — Lila Shroff, The Atlantic, 21 July 2026
Definition of theoretical

Browse Nearby Words

explorations
exploratory
explore
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Cite this Entry

“Exploratory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/exploratory. Accessed 25 Jul. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of exploratory for Spanish Speakers

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