theoretically
adverb
Simple meaning
In theory; according to the assumed facts.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
theeerehtihkuhleeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
θiɚˈɛtɪkəli
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.
adverb
In theory; according to the assumed facts
In theory though not necessarily in reality.
In a theoretical manner
“He worked the problem out theoretically.”
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Academic
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: In theory; according to the assumed facts
Used this way, theoretically is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in academic writing contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Academic writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use theoretically
- “He worked the problem out theoretically.”adverb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Concerned primarily with theories or hypotheses rather than practical considerations.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Concerned primarily with theories or hypotheses rather than practical considerations.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Antonyms
Sense: in theory
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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.