anecdotally
Americanadverb
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through, by means of, or with the inclusion of anecdotes.
In this book about Old East Yorkshire, famous events, personalities, and buildings are anecdotally presented.
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as an anecdote.
The blog post relates anecdotally how someone made $6,000 selling nude photos online.
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in a way that is based on observation, case studies, or random investigation rather than systematic scientific evaluation.
This is, of course, a difficult theory to prove in a double-blind study, but it bears out anecdotally.
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Etymology
Origin of anecdotally
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 key for sustained success, in our view, is recovery performance, which anecdotally improved.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 31, 2025
The government hasn’t released a comprehensive accounting of what it has made from its investments, but anecdotally, the returns so far are robust.
From Barron's • Oct. 22, 2025
We don’t have reliable numbers on self-deportation, besides what we read about anecdotally, people having chosen to return home as a result of the fear, uncertainty, and them not wanting to live like that.
From Slate • Aug. 11, 2025
To put that in context though, while anecdotally polyamory seems to be increasing, a YouGov poll in 2023 claims only 2% of the country identifies as polyamory.
From BBC • May 26, 2024
Instruction must be carried on objectively, experimentally, anecdotally.
From Talks To Teachers On Psychology; And To Students On Some Of Life's Ideals by James, William
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.
