Standard Lemma guide

theoretical

adj · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˌθɪəˈɹɛtɪkəl/
  • UK: [ˌθɪə̯ˈɹɛt.ɪ.kl̩]
  • US: /ˌθi.əˈɹɛt.ɪ.kəl/
  • US: [ˌθi.əˈɹɛɾ.ɪ.kl̩]
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australian: /ˌθiːˈɹet.ɪ.kəl/
  • Australian: [ˌθiːˈɹet.ɪ.kl̩]
  • CMU ARPABET: TH IY2 ER0 EH1 T IH0 K AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of or relating to theory; abstract; not empirical.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: practical

2

adjective

Meaning 2

concerned primarily with theories or hypotheses rather than practical considerations

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • theoretical science

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: theoretic

Antonyms: empirical

3

adjective

Meaning 3

concerned with theories rather than their practical applications

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • theoretical physics

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: applied

History

Etymology

From Middle English theorothycall, probably from Latin theōrēticus + -al, from Ancient Greek θεωρητικός (theōrētikós).

Across languages

Translations

48 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: نَظَرِيّ (naẓariyy) — of or relating to theory
  • Armenian: տեսական (tesakan) — of or relating to theory
  • Asturian: teóricu — of or relating to theory
  • Belarusian: тэарэты́чны (tearetýčny) — of or relating to theory
  • Belarusian: акадэмі́чны (akademíčny) — of or relating to theory
  • Catalan: teòric — of or relating to theory
  • Chinese Mandarin: 理論 /理论 (lǐlùn) — of or relating to theory
  • Czech: teoretický — of or relating to theory
  • Danish: teoretisk — of or relating to theory
  • Dutch: theoretisch — of or relating to theory
  • Esperanto: teoria — of or relating to theory
  • Estonian: teoreetiline — of or relating to theory
  • Faroese: ástøðiligur — of or relating to theory
  • Finnish: teoreettinen — of or relating to theory
  • French: théorique — of or relating to theory
  • Galician: teórico — of or relating to theory
  • German: theoretisch — of or relating to theory
  • Greek: θεωρητικός (theoritikós) — of or relating to theory
  • Hindi: इल्मी (ilmī) — of or relating to theory
  • Hindi: सैद्धांतिक (saiddhāntik) — of or relating to theory
  • Hindi: सैद्धान्तिक (saiddhāntik) — of or relating to theory
  • Hungarian: elméleti — of or relating to theory
  • Ido: teoriala — of or relating to theory
  • Indonesian: teoretis — of or relating to theory
  • Irish: teoiriciúil — of or relating to theory
  • Italian: teorico — of or relating to theory
  • Japanese: 理論的な (rironteki na) — of or relating to theory
  • Latin: doctrīnālis — of or relating to theory
  • Latvian: teorētisks — of or relating to theory
  • Macedonian: теоре́тски (teorétski) — of or relating to theory
  • Norwegian Bokmål: teoretisk — of or relating to theory
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: teoretisk — of or relating to theory
  • Persian: تئوریک (te'orik) — of or relating to theory
  • Polish: teoretyczny — of or relating to theory
  • Portuguese: teórico — of or relating to theory
  • Romanian: teoretic — of or relating to theory
  • Romanian: teoric — of or relating to theory
  • Russian: теорети́ческий (teoretíčeskij) — of or relating to theory
  • Russian: академи́чный (akademíčnyj) — of or relating to theory
  • Slovene: teorétičen — of or relating to theory
  • Spanish: teórico — of or relating to theory
  • Swedish: teoretisk — of or relating to theory
  • Turkish: teorik — of or relating to theory
  • Turkish: kuramsal — of or relating to theory
  • Ukrainian: теорети́чний (teoretýčnyj) — of or relating to theory
  • Urdu: علمی — of or relating to theory
  • Volapük: teorik — of or relating to theory
  • Volapük: teorodik — of or relating to theory
Real reading context

theoretical in complete knowledge articles