experimental
Americanadjective
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pertaining to, derived from, or founded on experiment.
an experimental science.
-
of the nature of an experiment; tentative.
The new program is still in an experimental stage.
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functioning as an experiment or used for experimentation.
an experimental airplane.
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based on or derived from experience; empirical.
experimental knowledge.
noun
adjective
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relating to, based on, or having the nature of experiment
an experimental study
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based on or derived from experience; empirical
experimental evidence
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tending to experiment
an experimental artist
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tentative or provisional
an experimental rule in football
Other Word Forms
- experimentally adverb
- nonexperimental adjective
- nonexperimentally adverb
- postexperimental adjective
- preexperimental adjective
- pseudoexperimental adjective
- pseudoexperimentally adverb
- quasi-experimental adjective
- quasi-experimentally adverb
- semiexperimental adjective
- semiexperimentally adverb
- unexperimental adjective
- unexperimentally adverb
Etymology
Origin of experimental
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English word from Medieval Latin word experīmentālis. See experiment, -al 1
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.
But if Thompson’s noir tales are bound by the restraints of the era and genre, they are also liberated by them, and these books are surprisingly experimental.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 2, 2026
Novo suffered a setback in February when its experimental obesity shot, CagriSema, failed to outperform Lilly’s tirzepatide in a study.
From Barron's • Apr. 1, 2026
It spans across punk rock, hip-hop, experimental, jazz and beyond.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 31, 2026
The experimental drug is currently in three late-stage clinical trials for kidney diseases, and Biogen believes that Apellis has the commercial infrastructure and talent to support that launch if felzartamab is approved.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 31, 2026
What made the Scientific Revolution, Latour argues, is not the experimental method, or commercial society—both had been around for centuries—but the printing press, which turned private information into public knowledge, private experience into communal experience.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
