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.
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 Constitution restricts the court to ruling only on actual “cases” and “controversies” — that is, on concrete harms affecting real people, not conjectural issues that might occur in the future.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2023
Without confirmation from artists, their teams, or Braun himself, changes to Braun’s roster are conjectural.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 23, 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.
