conjectural
Americanadjective
-
of, of the nature of, or involving conjecture; problematical.
Theories about the extinction of dinosaurs are highly conjectural.
- Synonyms:
- doubtful, theoretical, speculative
-
given to making conjectures.
a conjectural thinker.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of conjectural
1545–55; < Latin conjectūrālis, equivalent to conjectūr ( a ) conjecture + -ālis -al 1
Vocabulary lists containing conjectural
"To Build a Fire," Vocabulary from the short story
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Part 2 Vocabulary (Unit 3)
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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.
“These nebulous and overtly conjectural allegations do not come close to knitting Ganieva, Harris, and Rubenstein together in any solid or coherent way in concerted acts towards a common end,” the judge wrote.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026
While speculative extensions of physics — such as exotic forms of matter or modifications of general relativity — have been proposed to support such structures, they remain untested and highly conjectural.
From Science Daily ● May 22, 2026
"It's a conjectural but plausible evolutionary theory - one that can't be proven, but makes sense," says Anoop Misra, who heads Delhi's Fortis-C-DOC Centre of Excellence for Diabetes, Metabolic Diseases and Endocrinology.
From BBC ● Apr. 12, 2025
The court sided with the officers, saying that the township failed to demonstrate “real, not conjectural, harm” by using the flag and that the ban “addresses that harm in a direct and material way.”
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 14, 2023
Conant had advised Bush to put the uranium project on the shelf for the duration of the war, but that advice had been based on his impression that a bomb was purely conjectural.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Definitions 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.
