heuristic

American  

[hyoo-ris-tik, yoo-] / hyʊˈrɪs tɪk, yʊ- /

adjective

1. serving to indicate or point out; stimulating interest as a means of furthering investigation.

2. encouraging a person to learn, discover, understand, or solve problems independently, as by experimenting, evaluating possible answers or solutions, or by trial and error.

   The course uses a heuristic teaching method to allow students to find answers without being directly taught.

3. of, relating to, or based on experimentation, evaluation, or trial-and-error methods.

4. Computers, Mathematics. pertaining to a trial-and-error method of problem solving used when an algorithmic approach is impractical.

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noun

1. a heuristic method of argument.

2. the study of heuristic procedure.

heuristic British  

/ hjʊəˈrɪstɪk /

adjective

1. helping to learn; guiding in discovery or investigation

2. (of a method of teaching) allowing pupils to learn things for themselves

3. 1. maths science philosophy using or obtained by exploration of possibilities rather than by following set rules

   2. computing denoting a rule of thumb for solving a problem without the exhaustive application of an algorithm

      a heuristic solution

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noun

1. (plural) the science of heuristic procedure

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unheuristic
  adjective
• unheuristically
  adverb
• heuristically
  adverb
• nonheuristic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of heuristic

First recorded in 1815–25; from New Latin heuristicus, equivalent to Greek heur(ískein) “to find out, discover” + Latin -isticus -istic

Explanation

A heuristic is a rule or method that helps you solve problems faster than you would if you did all the computing. It sounds fancy, but you might know a heuristic as a "rule of thumb." Derived from a Greek word that means "to discover," heuristic describes a rule or a method that comes from experience and helps you think through things, like the process of elimination, or the process of trial and error. You can think of a heuristic as a shortcut. Besides finding it in philosophy books, if you are interested in computing, you'll find references to heuristic programming. You can use it as a noun or as an adjective.

Example Sentences

The Merton share is just a heuristic, but the main point is that investors should have a simple, rules-based framework in mind when thinking about sizing.

From Barron's • Oct. 10, 2025

"We plan to collaborate with other bioinformaticians from external organisations linked to pan-genome research and develop a state-of-the-art heuristic algorithm to efficiently construct pan-genomes of populations."

From Science Daily • Nov. 21, 2023

Still, scientific support for Mori’s uncanny valley has been mixed, and it should be thought of as a heuristic rather than a hard and fast rule, says MacDorman.

From National Geographic • Sep. 29, 2023

There is no single cause for this cognitive bias; the availability heuristic, self-serving bias, and naïve realism have been suggested as at least partial underlying factors.

From Salon • May 26, 2023

It needed heuristic value to survive, and this was lacking.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas