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