2 meanings
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1 —as in:
a study to test her hypothesis
Definition
a seemingly reasonable, but unproven idea or explanation based upon known facts- The study will test the hypothesis that a good marriage is more important than a higher income when measuring happiness.
hypothesis = a seemingly reasonable, but unproven, idea
Other Uses (with this meaning)
- He hypothesized the existence of Pluto before its discovery.
- Hypothesis, demonstration, conclusion, if A then not B.Margaret Atwood -- Oryx and Crake
- The hypothesis here proven may be described simply in the following terms: artificially increased intelligence deteriorates at a rate of time directly proportional to the quantity of the increase.Daniel Keyes -- Flowers for Algernon
- ["short man's complex" or "unresolved Oedipal conflict"] Although there may be some truth in both hypotheses, this sort of posthumous off-the-rack psychoanalysis is a dubious, highly speculative enterprise that inevitably demeans and trivializes the absent analysand.Jon Krakauer -- Into the Wild
- But supplementary to this, it has hypothetically occurred to me, that...Herman Melville -- Moby Dick
- "There's a market for Rearden Metal and I intend to take full advantage of it."
"Isn't the market somewhat hypothetical? The public response to your metal has not been encouraging."Ayn Rand -- Atlas Shrugged - No amount of your analyzing, criticizing, judging, or hypothesizing will bring the peace you are looking for.Jon Krakauer -- Into Thin Air
- We've made some hypotheses, some suppositions, but nobody really knows what the nests were like.Michael Crichton -- Jurassic Park
- So do their counterparts, so we can hypothesize that those are weapons or countermeasures against him.Nora Roberts -- Blood Brothers
hypothesized = proposed a seemingly reasonable, but unproven, idea
hypothesis = an idea to be tested
hypothesis = reasonable idea
hypotheses = ideas that are seemingly reasonable, but unproven
hypothetically = based on an idea that seems reasonable, but is unproven
hypothetical = based on assumptions rather than facts
hypothesizing = proposing seemingly reasonable, but unproven, ideas
hypotheses = ideas that are seemingly reasonable, but unproven
hypothesize = propose a seemingly reasonable, but unproven, idea based upon known facts
2 —as in:
assume as a working hypothesis
Definition
something that may or may not be true, but is temporarily treated as true to advance a discussion or to further investigation- For the purpose of discussion, let's accept that the hypothesis that she is guilty is true. What would we have expected her to do after the incident?
hypothesis = something that may or may not be true, but is temporarily treated as true to advance a discussion or to further investigation
Other Uses (with this meaning)
- Hypothetically speaking, if the company did downside and you lost your job, what would you do?
- Instead of talking about her specific situation, I asked her to consider a hypothetical situation with similar circumstances. It helped her to keep emotions under control as she thought about everyone's point-of-view.
- Hypothetically speaking, if the stock market is efficient, we would expect indexed mutual funds to perform as well as managed mutual funds, but with less overhead.
- His extreme love of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from America.Arthur Conan Doyle -- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
- "Let's say I was smoking pot," Josie said.
Her mother froze. "Is there something you want to tell me, Josie?"
"God, Mom, I'm not doing it. This is hypothetical."Jodi Picoult -- Nineteen Minutes - Now she had a working hypothesis.Terry Pratchett -- Nation
- Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a better.Arthur Conan Doyle -- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
- Hypothetical scenarios were a favourite thing of Crake's.Margaret Atwood -- Oryx and Crake
- This isn't just hypothetical. It's actually happened before that people got caught.Barbara Kingsolver -- The Bean Trees
hypothetically = based on something that is temporarily treated as true to advance a discussion or to further investigation
hypothetical = something temporarily treated as true to advance a discussion or to further investigation
hypothetically = based on something that is temporarily treated as true to advance a discussion or to further investigation
hypothesis = something that may or may not be true, but is temporarily treated as true to advance a discussion or to further investigation
hypothetical = something temporarily treated as true to advance a discussion or to further investigation
hypothesis = something that may or may not be true, but is temporarily treated as true to advance a discussion or to further investigation
hypothesis = something that may or may not be true, but is temporarily treated as true to advance a discussion or to further investigation
hypothetical = temporarily treating something as true to advance discussion
hypothetical = something that has not happened, but could reasonably be expected to happen and is treated as though it did to advance conversation