theoretical

UK/ˌθɪəˈɹɛtɪkəl//ˌθi.əˈɹɛt.ɪ.kəl/

theoretical adjective: of or relating to theory; abstract; not empirical.

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Adjective

theoretical (comparative more theoretical, superlative most theoretical)

Of or relating to theory; abstract; not empirical.
- We may look upon this figure as representing in section a theoretical wing-form, or aerofoil1907, Aerodynamics, constituting the first volume of a complete work on aerial flight, page 163
- Which makes the concept known as Rods From God the ultimate form of kinetic weaponry. This theoretical weapon would drop telephone pole sized rods of dense tungsten from a satellite in orbit.2025 May 12, Jeff Edwards, “Rods from God: Unleashing Orbital Kinetic Bombardment as a Theoretical Defense System”, in Mira Safety
Antonyms:

practical

theoretical meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

theoretical in Hindi

of or relating to theory: इल्मी ilmī, सैद्धांतिक saiddhāntik, सैद्धान्तिक saiddhāntik

theoretical in Tamil

கோட்பாட்டு, கோட்பாட்டளவான, கருத்தியல், அறிமுறையான

theoretical in Marathi

सैद्धांतिक

theoretical in Urdu

of or relating to theory: علمی

More languagesFewer languages

theoretical in Bengali: তত্ত্বীয়, ধারণাগত, বাদীয়, ধারণাসঙ্গত
theoretical in Telugu: సైద్ధాంతిక
theoretical in Malayalam: താത്വികമായി
theoretical in Kannada: ಹೇಳ್ಮೆಯ, ಹೇಳ್ಮೆಯೊಳಗೊಂಡ, ಹೇಳ್ಮೆಯೊಡ್ಡುವ, ಗೆತ್ತ
theoretical in Punjabi: ਸਿਧਾਂਤਕ
theoretical in Gujarati: સૈદ્ધાંતિક
theoretical in Odia: ତାତ୍ତ୍ବିକ, ତତ୍ତ୍ୱଗତ
theoretical in Nepali: सैद्धान्तिक, सैद्धांतिक
theoretical in Arabic: نَظَرِيّ naẓariyy
theoretical in Indonesian: teoretis
theoretical in Persian: تئوریک te'orik

Examples of theoretical in a sentence

I don’t know all the theoretical abracadabra about how it works, I’m only its pilot.
Bohr's theoretical construct of the atom was soon superseded by quantum mechanics.
The Edisonian approach to innovation is characterized by trial-and-error discovery rather than a systematic theoretical approach.

All 40 example sentences with theoretical

Antonyms of theoretical

practical

Forms of theoretical

comparative	more theoretical
superlative	most theoretical

Origin of theoretical

From Middle English theorothycall, probably from Latin theōrēticus + -al, from Ancient Greek θεωρητικός (theōrētikós).

Phrases with theoretical

Questions about theoretical

What does theoretical mean?: Theoretical means of or relating to theory; abstract; not empirical.
What is theoretical in Hindi?: Theoretical in Hindi is इल्मी (ilmī), सैद्धांतिक (saiddhāntik), सैद्धान्तिक (saiddhāntik). See Theoretical meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is theoretical?: Theoretical is an adjective.
How do you pronounce theoretical?: Theoretical is pronounced /ˌθɪəˈɹɛtɪkəl/ (UK).

Words near theoretical in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: theoretical (page history and authors); theoretical (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); theoretical (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); theoretical (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); theoretical (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); theoretical (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); theoretical (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); theoretical (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); theoretical (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); theoretical (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); theoretical (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-theoretical.ogg.

Cite this entry: “theoretical.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/theoretical. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.