conceptual
Americanadjective
adjective
-
relating to or concerned with concepts; abstract
-
concerned with the definitions or relations of the concepts of some field of enquiry rather than with the facts
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of conceptual
First recorded in 1655–65; Medieval Latin conceptuālis; see conceptus, -al 1
Explanation
Something is conceptual when it deals primarily with abstract or original thoughts. A conceptual plan is one in an early stage. To make it work, you'll need to flesh out the details. Conceptual art is art in which the concept seems more important than the physical aspects of the artwork. In New York's Museum of Modern Art, you can see Marcel DuChamp's conceptual piece, "Bicycle Wheel," which is a bicycle wheel mounted on a stool. Why is this art? The concept, or idea, behind it is that everyday objects become art when looked at outside of their uses. In general, when something is conceptual it takes a bit of thought to figure it out.
Vocabulary lists containing conceptual
On a Pedestal: Marble-ous Words for Sculpture
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Awkward
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"Building Design and Construction Handbook," Vocabulary from Section 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In court papers filed over the weekend, the administration said the project “remains at an early and conceptual stage.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
So often are these charges true that it can feel shocking when we encounter conceptual work that truly lands, that elevates its subject matter in a way that makes it deeply resonant without preaching.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
In addition, the museum’s curators tended to be specialized in material culture — collecting and studying the museum’s several million objects and artifacts — rather than in conceptual storytelling.
From Salon ● Sep. 25, 2026
The researchers hope their proposed explanation will ultimately give students a more consistent way to understand chemical bonding while providing scientists with a stronger conceptual basis for studying molecular structure and reactivity.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026
These factors—cultural, technological, conceptual, political—were absent in China, and hence the Chinese admired clockwork but had no use for it.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
