Standard Lemma guide

theoretically

adv · 5 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.

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  • CMU ARPABET: TH IY2 ER0 EH1 T IH0 K AH0 L IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: TH IY2 ER0 EH1 T IH0 K L IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adv

Meaning 1

in theory; on paper

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • I haven't tested it, but theoretically it ought to fly.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adv

Meaning 2

in a theoretical manner

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • I solved the problem theoretically rather than practically.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adv

Meaning 3

in theory though not necessarily in reality.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adverb

Meaning 4

in theory; according to the assumed facts

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • on paper the candidate seems promising

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adverb

Meaning 5

in a theoretical manner

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he worked the problem out theoretically

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: empirically

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English theoretical Proto-Indo-European *leyg-der. Proto-Germanic *līkąder. Proto-Germanic *-līkaz Proto-Germanic *-ê Proto-Germanic *-līkê Proto-West Germanic *-līkē Old English -līċe Middle English -ly English -ly English theoretically From theoretical + -ly.

Across languages

Translations

41 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: տեսականորեն (tesakanoren) — in theory
  • Asturian: en teoría — in theory
  • Basque: teorian — in theory
  • Bulgarian: теоретично (teoretično) — in theory
  • Catalan: teòricament — in theory
  • Catalan: en teoria — in theory
  • Chinese Mandarin: 理論上 /理论上 (lǐlùn shàng) — in theory
  • Czech: teoreticky — in theory
  • Dutch: theoretisch — in theory
  • Esperanto: teorie — in theory
  • Finnish: teoreettisesti — in theory
  • French: théoriquement — in theory
  • French: en théorie — in theory
  • Galician: teoricamente — in theory
  • Galician: en teoría — in theory
  • Georgian: თეორიულად (teoriulad) — in theory
  • German: theoretisch — in theory
  • German: prinzipiell — in theory
  • German: rein gedanklich — in theory
  • German: vom Gedanken her — in theory
  • Greek: θεωρητικά (theoritiká) — in theory
  • Hungarian: elméletileg — in theory
  • Hungarian: elvileg — in theory
  • Hungarian: teoretikusan — in theory
  • Ido: teoriale — in theory
  • Italian: teoricamente — in theory
  • Italian: in linea teorica — in theory
  • Japanese: 理論上 (rironjō) — in theory
  • Norwegian Bokmål: teoretisk — in theory
  • Occitan: teoricament — in theory
  • Polish: teoretycznie — in theory
  • Portuguese: teoricamente — in theory
  • Romanian: teoretic — in theory
  • Romanian: teoreticește — in theory
  • Russian: теорети́чески (teoretíčeski) — in theory
  • Slovak: teoreticky — in theory
  • Spanish: teóricamente — in theory
  • Spanish: en teoría — in theory
  • Swedish: teoretiskt — in theory
  • Ukrainian: теоретично (teoretyčno) — in theory
  • Vietnamese: về lý thuyết — in theory
Real reading context

theoretically in complete knowledge articles