statistical
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word 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.
Many said they believe it was a statistical fluke that could reverse in coming months.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 3, 2026
Because the studies differed substantially in their design and methods, the researchers did not combine the data into a single statistical analysis.
From Science Daily • Jun. 30, 2026
“Quantitative strategies are not immune to periods in which statistical relationships break down.Episodes of heightened volatility can create significant short-term dislocations.”
From MarketWatch • Jun. 30, 2026
Data from the EU's statistical office, Eurostat, show the number of dairy cows in Bulgaria fell by around 40 percent between 2010 and 2024.
From Barron's • Jun. 25, 2026
If economics is a science primarily concerned with incentives, it is also—fortunately—a science with statistical tools to measure how people respond to those incentives.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
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.
