conceptual

[kuhn-sep-choo-uhl]

adjective

1. pertaining to concepts or to the forming of concepts.

conceptual

/ kənˈsɛptjʊəl /

adjective

1. relating to or concerned with concepts; abstract

2. concerned with the definitions or relations of the concepts of some field of enquiry rather than with the facts

Other Word Forms

• conceptuality noun
• conceptually adverb
• nonconceptual adjective
• postconceptual adjective
• unconceptual adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of conceptual¹

First recorded in 1655–65; Medieval Latin conceptuālis; conceptus, -al ¹

Example Sentences

The conceptual content of an engram is an ideal abstract object characterized with regard to multiple features.

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Graham observed that outside the U.S., “nation” is often irrevocably tied to ethnicity, and “the conceptual shift…is part of a broader rhetorical change on the right.”

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Obliteration drives several extraordinary series of conceptual works that shine in the exhibition.

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I think it’s a balance between spontaneity, a game between the organic, the intellectual, the conceptual.

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Going back to Benito’s masterpiece, its conceptual gravitas is almost grander than the songs themselves.

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Related Words

• theoretical 
• visionary