as in experimental
done or created to find something or to learn more about something
exploratory drilling for oil
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Recent Examples of exploratory
In recent years, Amazon’s assumption of the Thursday Night Football package and exploratory nibbles from the likes of YouTube have poured billions of bonus bucks into the league’s coffers.
—
Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 11 May 2026
The Vikings brought free-agent receiver Jauan Jennings in for some exploratory sessions, and that signing remains a possibility.
—Alec Lewis, New York Times, 4 May 2026
After a two-month exploratory tour, Hamilton, 61, chose to run as a Democrat rather than an independent to avoid splitting votes.
—Hannah Wise, Kansas City Star, 30 Apr. 2026
The Pentagon announced the initial, exploratory contracts with Google, OpenAI, Anthropic and xAI in July.
—Jared Perlo, NBC news, 29 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for exploratory
Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 11 May 2026
The Vikings brought free-agent receiver Jauan Jennings in for some exploratory sessions, and that signing remains a possibility.
—Alec Lewis, New York Times, 4 May 2026
After a two-month exploratory tour, Hamilton, 61, chose to run as a Democrat rather than an independent to avoid splitting votes.
—Hannah Wise, Kansas City Star, 30 Apr. 2026
The Pentagon announced the initial, exploratory contracts with Google, OpenAI, Anthropic and xAI in July.
—Jared Perlo, NBC news, 29 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for exploratory
Recent Examples of Synonyms for exploratory
Adjective
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Each is built to swap into any cocktail recipe — classic or experimental — at the same ratio as the full-proof version.—
Lauren Schuster,
Kansas City Star,
27 May 2026
-
Shelley says the work borders on an experimental sound installation.—
Christopher Smith,
Oc Register,
27 May 2026
Adjective
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Its platform is used by hundreds of correctional and public safety agencies across the country, offering tools to organize, analyze, and interpret communications data in support of investigative operations.—
Walter Pavlo,
Forbes.com,
22 May 2026
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Complementing this perspective, vet investigative reporter, writer and doc maker Caco Barcellos will lecture about storytelling and journalistic responsibility.—
Marcelo Cajueiro,
Variety,
22 May 2026
Adjective
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In-hand images aren’t yet available, but a speculative mock-up was shared which is said to accurately depict what the new sneaker will look like.—
Riley Jones,
Footwear News,
23 May 2026
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Bianco noted many issuers are focused on their leverage ratios and interest coverage, and there is more focus on refinancing in the market than on speculative on M&A and leveraged buyout issuance, with the latter having moved more to the private side of the bond market.—
Krysta Escobar,
CNBC,
22 May 2026
Adjective
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With evacuation shelters reaching capacity as more than 40,000 people were asked to leave their homes, officials laboring to prevent an explosion at a crippled chemical tank in Garden Grove reported tentative progress Sunday in ending the crisis.—
Deborah Netburn,
Los Angeles Times,
24 May 2026
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The precise terms of the tentative agreement were not available at the time of this report.—
Brian Maass,
CBS News,
20 May 2026
Adjective
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Polis wrote in his veto letter of House Bill 1355 that preliminary budget forecasts show the state can keep the grant program going for its final year.—
Nick Coltrain,
Denver Post,
29 May 2026
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Hernández, after undergoing preliminary testing Wednesday, is scheduled for imaging Thursday.—
Maddie Lee,
Los Angeles Times,
28 May 2026
Adjective
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Candidates must demonstrate practical, daily AI fluency, not just theoretical knowledge, proven by automating real workflows.—
Jodie Cook,
Forbes.com,
22 May 2026
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And the chaos is no longer theoretical.—
Wyles Daniel
May 19,
Miami Herald,
19 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Exploratory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/exploratory. Accessed 29 May. 2026.
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