statistical
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of statistical
First recorded in 1590–1600; statistic(s) + -al 1
Explanation
If you can say it with numbers, then it is probably statistical. Statistical information (or "stats") can tell the chance of rain tomorrow or what percentage or your allowance gets spent on texting. Statistics is the science of gathering numerical information in large amounts and using it to make broad deductions — such as the one that famously declared the average British family in the 1980s had 2.4 children. Of course, that was nonsense, and the statisticians later amended it — to 1.6. Statistical answers, as the previous example shows, often need to be taken with a pinch of salt.
Vocabulary lists containing statistical
Nothing But the Truth
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How It Went Down
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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.
The New York Fed’s multivariate core trend model External link, which uses statistical techniques to filter out noise, measured 4% percent in April.
From Barron's • Jun. 3, 2026
Pratt’s solutions may be moon shots untethered to statistical reality.
From Slate • Jun. 3, 2026
This large statistical dataset could identify important trends and help guide future observations by Webb and other observatories.
From Science Daily • Jun. 1, 2026
In theory GDP and GDI should be the same, though in practice they differ slightly because of statistical imprecision.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 2026
You can be sure that it would be advertised as providing relief in a “significant” percentage of cases, but the significance is only statistical.
From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos
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.
