as in theoretic
existing only as an assumption or speculation
a speculative explanation of why this ancient pottery was found hundreds of miles from where it was made
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Recent Examples of speculative
Being trapped in another dimension is easy work in speculative fiction.
—
Bethy Squires, Vulture, 8 Oct. 2025
Nevertheless, the team, led by senior analyst Vivek Arya, argued that the deal is structured by performance and competitive need, rather than pure speculative frenzy.
—Sydney Lake, Fortune, 7 Oct. 2025
While Black Ops 6 toyed with a more grounded, back-to-the-basics approach of UAVs, airstrikes, and attack choppers as scorestreak rewards for tallying enough points or kills, the speculative fiction framework of BLOPS 7 means everything requires a heightened tone.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 7 Oct. 2025
But some providers may remain confused or hesitant to administer the shots because of lingering uncertainty and mixed messages, for instance, speculative safety risks presented during the CDC's advisory committee meeting that are not backed by solid evidence.
—Pien Huang, NPR, 6 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for speculative
Bethy Squires, Vulture, 8 Oct. 2025
Nevertheless, the team, led by senior analyst Vivek Arya, argued that the deal is structured by performance and competitive need, rather than pure speculative frenzy.
—Sydney Lake, Fortune, 7 Oct. 2025
While Black Ops 6 toyed with a more grounded, back-to-the-basics approach of UAVs, airstrikes, and attack choppers as scorestreak rewards for tallying enough points or kills, the speculative fiction framework of BLOPS 7 means everything requires a heightened tone.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 7 Oct. 2025
But some providers may remain confused or hesitant to administer the shots because of lingering uncertainty and mixed messages, for instance, speculative safety risks presented during the CDC's advisory committee meeting that are not backed by solid evidence.
—Pien Huang, NPR, 6 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for speculative
Recent Examples of Synonyms for speculative
Adjective
-
The scientists behind the project hope those crystals will interact with the hypothetical dark matter particles known as WIMPs.—
Chris Young,
Interesting Engineering,
13 Oct. 2025
-
Ultimately, Bayless is going off of a hypothetical scenario that cannot be proven or disproven.—
MSNBC Newsweek,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Doorman highlights more recent scholarship that argues that this is an oversimplification of what were larger theoretical differences between the movement’s two founders.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
15 Oct. 2025
-
The York study is theoretical, rather than observation-based.—
Chris Young,
Interesting Engineering,
14 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Speculative.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/speculative. Accessed 20 Oct. 2025.
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