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exact science

American  

noun

  1. a science, as chemistry or physics, that deals with quantitatively measurable phenomena of the material universe.


Etymology

Origin of exact science

First recorded in 1860–65

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.

See Examples For:

First, determining your risk tolerance isn’t an exact science.

From The Wall Street Journal Mar. 10, 2026

This is not an exact science, but the cumulation of data is what led to the conclusion reached by Stella and many others.

From BBC Feb. 20, 2026

Determining the points at which past Fed chairs became lame ducks is not an exact science, needless to say.

From MarketWatch Feb. 19, 2026

According to Scott Tranter, director of data science at Decision Desk HQ, forecasting is far from an exact science, even if modelers are normally trying their best to provide sober, statistically informed analysis.

From Salon Sep. 16, 2024

“Ours is not an exact science, but we do what we can do.”

From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman

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