Origin: Latin suffix -al
Hypothetical has 4 different meanings across 2 categories:
a hypothetical possibility, circumstance, statement, proposal, situation, etc.
"consider the following, just as a hypothetical"
A possible or hypothetical situation or proposition
"The committee spent hours debating a hypothetical scenario where funding was suddenly cut by half."
In plain English: A hypothetical is an idea that exists only as a possibility and hasn't actually happened yet.
"The professor asked us to analyze each hypothetical before writing our essay."
based primarily on surmise rather than adequate evidence
"theories about the extinction of dinosaurs are still highly conjectural"
"the supposed reason for his absence"
"suppositious reconstructions of dead languages"
"hypothetical situation"
Based upon a hypothesis; conjectural
"The scientist presented several hypothetical scenarios to illustrate how the new theory might work under different conditions."
In plain English: Hypothetical means something that is only imagined for now and might not actually happen.
"The hypothetical situation suggested that we might run out of supplies if we didn't act quickly."
Usage: Use this adjective to describe situations, scenarios, or arguments that are based on assumptions rather than proven facts. It is often confused with "theoretical," but while theoretical ideas exist in principle, hypothetical ones specifically rely on imagined conditions for the sake of discussion.
The word comes from Ancient Greek hupothetikós, which originally meant something proposed or assumed. It entered English through French to describe ideas that are suggested but not yet proven true.