hypothesis
noun
Simple meaning
An idea you test to see if it is true.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
hypahthuhsuhsSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
haɪˈpɑθəsəs
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
sciences
A tentative conjecture explaining an observation, phenomenon or scientific problem and that can be tested by further observation, investigation, or experimentation.
general
An assumption taken to be true for the purpose of argument or investigation.
grammar
The antecedent of a conditional statement.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (sciences) A tentative conjecture explaining an observation, phenomenon or scientific problem and that can be tested by further observation, investigation, or experimentation.
Used this way, hypothesis is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in science contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Science
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use hypothesis
- “A scientific hypothesis that survives experimental testing becomes a scientific theory.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The principle that equal volumes of all gases (given the same temperature and pressure) contain equal numbers of molecules.
The theory that the solar system evolved from a hot gaseous nebula.
The theory that the solar system was formed by the gravitational accumulation of planetesimals.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.