1
as in theoretical
dealing with or expressing a quality or idea
she has a notional understanding of romantic love but no actual experience of being in love
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in imaginary
not real and existing only in the imagination
your computer's "visits" to various parts of cyberspace are entirely notional—you stay put and the Web pages come to you
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of notional
These challenges all place a premium on quiet peacetime coordination between Washington and Taipei to build alignment on notional military plans and war aims, procedures for escalation management and signaling to Beijing, and conditions for terminating a war.
—
Rebecca Lissner, Foreign Affairs, 14 Nov. 2025
According to The Times, payment of the notional rent would only be enforced if Andrew failed to maintain the property's refurbishment.
—Edward Segarra, USA Today, 21 Oct. 2025
But Tianwen 3 needs to land even lower down, with the criteria being at least 9,840 feet (3,000 m) below notional sea level, according to a paper published in the journal Nature by scientists involved in the mission.
—Andrew Jones, Space.com, 1 Oct. 2025
The United States 3rd Marine Division executes a notional fire mission with the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System during a training exercise at Camp Hansen on Japan's Okinawa Island on July 28, 2025.
—Ryan Chan, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for notional
Rebecca Lissner, Foreign Affairs, 14 Nov. 2025
According to The Times, payment of the notional rent would only be enforced if Andrew failed to maintain the property's refurbishment.
—Edward Segarra, USA Today, 21 Oct. 2025
But Tianwen 3 needs to land even lower down, with the criteria being at least 9,840 feet (3,000 m) below notional sea level, according to a paper published in the journal Nature by scientists involved in the mission.
—Andrew Jones, Space.com, 1 Oct. 2025
The United States 3rd Marine Division executes a notional fire mission with the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System during a training exercise at Camp Hansen on Japan's Okinawa Island on July 28, 2025.
—Ryan Chan, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for notional
Recent Examples of Synonyms for notional
Adjective
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These proposals rely heavily on theoretical risk models, selective interpretation of data and precautionary assumptions rather than demonstrated real-world patterns of harm sufficient to justify criminalization.—
Teri Sforza,
Oc Register,
8 May 2026
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This entry introduces the concept of media dependency through one of the most influential theories, the media dependency system model, and its relation to other theoretical frameworks such as uses and gratifications theory and the power dependency model.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
8 May 2026
Adjective
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To find Hydra, first locate the bright stars Chertan and Regulus in the constellation Leo and draw an imaginary line from the former to the latter, extending 20 degrees into open space.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
9 May 2026
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Artists in the 18th century would often include a person of color, who would sometimes be imaginary, in their portraits of wealthy white sitters to embellish the painting and highlight the high status of the main subject, according to the researchers.—
Amarachi Orie,
CNN Money,
8 May 2026
Adjective
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Mercifully, those connections are not forged across time and space; all three stories remain discrete, never approaching a moment of grandiose metaphysical convergence.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
8 May 2026
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Conversations might turn to metaphysical issues or charitable activities.—
Georgia Nicols,
Denver Post,
2 May 2026
Adjective
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First, Jones submitted fraudulent expense reimbursement requests for fictitious business expenses.—
Irene Wright,
USA Today,
30 Apr. 2026
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Investigators say the monthly payroll expenses and the number of employees were fictitious and that the documents used to support the monthly income for the companies were false.—
Joseph Buczek,
CBS News,
27 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Jules’ colorful shadows - Season 1, Episode 5 One of the most artistic makeup looks from season 1, Jules’ (Hunter Schafer) colorful eyelids look a bit like an abstract painting.—
Hannah Kerns,
PEOPLE,
10 May 2026
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The body art is a purple, red, yellow, green, and blue scribble—quite abstract expressionist.—
Anna Cafolla,
Vogue,
10 May 2026
Adjective
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The novel follows an elderly British couple, Axl and Beatrice, living in a fictional post-Arthurian England in which no one is able to retain long-term memories.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
8 May 2026
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The actor couldn’t have been further from the halls of a fictional hospital.—
Savannah Walsh,
Vanity Fair,
8 May 2026
Adjective
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Enthralled by Felipe Rose, a go-go boy decked out in Native American regalia at the Anvil, a notorious gay Manhattan disco, Morali applied that approach to his next conceptual act, Village People.—
CT Jones,
Rolling Stone,
11 May 2026
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Turkish defense officials stated that the project is not limited to a conceptual display and has moved into an active development and testing phase.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
8 May 2026
Adjective
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Their stories live on in Sardinian lore with an almost mythical quality, the brigands admired for their intractability.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
7 May 2026
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Komodo dragons were nearly mythical creatures until the first detailed field study was conducted by Walter Auffenberg in the late 1960s.—
Craig Stanford,
Big Think,
7 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Notional.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/notional. Accessed 14 May. 2026.
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