hypothetically
Americanadverb
-
according to what is assumed as a premise in an argument.
Hypothetically, without friction or other resistance a toy car on a track could cruise along indefinitely, provided it never went higher than its starting point.
-
in a way that is theoretically possible but not proven; conjecturally; speculatively.
Hypothetically, these nanobots would be able to traverse any type of terrain and would therefore be ideal for exploration missions on other planets.
While hypothetically this could be the case, you appear to have no evidence to support it.
-
according to what is assumed or imagined; supposedly.
I do legal transcription and hypothetically clean the house while my children are at school.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hypothetically
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.
Such interceptions may have allowed Russian intelligence services to read the sensitive data they transmit, or hypothetically, even to take control of the satellites.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
“Even if the war were hypothetically to end tomorrow, the price of oil is still going to be higher versus a year ago for a minimum of the next one to two months,” said Molchanov.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026
So could brain organoids grown and maintained in a lab hypothetically outlive humans?
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
Today, Amazon still has its “two-pizza teams,” but, hypothetically, a 16-person, two-pizza team might be broken up into two smaller cross-functional pods of eight, each focused on a specific project, according to Singh.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026
“Gregory, speaking purely hypothetically, how would you keep your chickens safe if someone wanted to steal them from you?”
From "Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer" by Kelly Jones
![]()
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.