theoretically

English

Etymology

From theoretical +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Southern England):

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• Audio (US):

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Adverb

theoretically (not comparable)

1. in theory; on paper

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

2. in a theoretical manner

   I solved the problem theoretically rather than practically.

3. in theory though not necessarily in reality.
   • 1985 December 14, Gordon Gottlieb, “L.A. Community Divided over Terrigno Indictment”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 22, page 10:

     Rumors of an indictment had spread through this heavily gay and lesbian community since shortly after the theoretically secret investigation began in 1984.

   • 2023 November 1, Honest Dentist Appointment:

     No, but insurance does cover it. Theoretically.

Derived terms

• graph-theoretically
• number-theoretically
• set theoretically
• set-theoretically

 

Translations

in theory

• Arabic: ^{(please verify)} نَظَريّاً
• Armenian: տեսականորեն (hy) (tesakanoren)
• Asturian: en teoría
• Basque: teorian
• Bulgarian: теоретично (bg) (teoretično)
• Catalan: teòricament (ca), en teoria
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 理論上／理论上 (zh) (lǐlùn shàng)

• Czech: teoreticky
• Dutch: theoretisch (nl)
• Esperanto: teorie
• Finnish: teoreettisesti (fi)
• French: théoriquement (fr), en théorie
• Galician: teoricamente, en teoría
• Georgian: თეორიულად (teoriulad)
• German: theoretisch (de), prinzipiell (de), rein gedanklich, vom Gedanken her
• Greek: θεωρητικά (el) (theoritiká)
• Hungarian: elméletileg (hu), elvileg (hu), teoretikusan
• Ido: teoriale (io)
• Italian: teoricamente (it), in linea teorica
• Japanese: 理論上 (りろんじょう, rironjō)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: teoretisk (no)

• Occitan: teoricament (oc)
• Polish: teoretycznie (pl)
• Portuguese: teoricamente
• Romanian: teoretic (ro), teoreticește (ro)
• Russian: теорети́чески (ru) (teoretíčeski)
• Slovak: teoreticky
• Spanish: teóricamente (es), en teoría
• Swedish: teoretiskt (sv)
• Ukrainian: теоретично (teoretyčno)
• Vietnamese: về lý thuyết

Anagrams

• heterotically