What does hypothetical mean?
Word: Hypothetical
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Hypothetical means imagined or supposed rather than real; used for a situation we think about to see what would happen.
Synonyms: imaginary, supposed, theoretical
Antonyms: real
How do you spell hypothetical?
Syllables: hy - po - thet - i - cal
Tricky part: It starts hy, not hi, because it comes from the Greek prefix hypo; hipothetical is the common slip.
Watch out for: hipothetical, hypothatical, hipothatical
Memory tip: Think of hypothesis: both words begin with the same hy, never hi.
Hypothetical in a sentence
Example 1: Let us take a hypothetical case: suppose you found a wallet on the road.
Example 2: The interviewer asked a hypothetical question about becoming captain.
Example 3: Dad said the trip to Japan was still hypothetical until he got leave.
Fun Fact
Lawyers and judges use hypothetical cases, often called hypotheticals, to test how a rule would work in other situations.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word hypothetical as used in the sentence:
The teacher gave us a hypothetical problem: what would happen if the Earth suddenly stopped spinning?
a) curious
b) difficult
c) unlikely
d) actual
Show answer
d) actual. A hypothetical problem is only imagined, while an actual one really exists.
Word Cookie
Choose the correct letters to fill in the blanks:
hypothet_c_l
a) i, i
b) i, a
c) e, e
d) e, a
Show answer
b) i, a. The adjective ending here is ical, as in logical and practical.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
Let us discuss a tcahyplieoth case in which the school bus breaks down on the highway.
a) theoretical
b) pathetically
c) hypothetical
d) hypocritical
Show answer
c) hypothetical. The jumble has two h's, which rules out theoretical and pathetically, and no r, which rules out hypocritical.
Spell-o-Spell
Three of these words are spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of the misspelt word:
1. hypothetical 2. assumption 3. scenerio 4. theoretical
a) something accepted as true without proof
b) imagined or supposed rather than real
c) based on ideas rather than practice
d) a description of how events might happen
Show answer
d) a description of how events might happen. Scenario has an a after scen; the other three words are spelt correctly.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A hypothetical question begins most naturally with ____.
a) Thank you
b) Yesterday
c) Look at
d) What if
Show answer
d) What if
2. Which statement is hypothetical?
a) If I could fly, I would visit Ladakh.
b) I visited Ladakh with my family last summer.
c) My uncle has a small shop in Ladakh.
d) Ladakh is in the far north of India.
Show answer
a) If I could fly, I would visit Ladakh.
