| abstract | | |
| n. (cognition) | 1. abstract, abstraction | a concept or idea not associated with any specific instance.; "he loved her only in the abstract--not in person" |
| ~ right | an abstract idea of that which is due to a person or governmental body by law or tradition or nature.; "they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights"; "Certain rights can never be granted to the government but must be kept in the hands of the people"; "a right is not something that somebody gives you; it is something that nobody can take away" |
| ~ concept, conception, construct | an abstract or general idea inferred or derived from specific instances. |
| ~ absolute | something that is conceived or that exists independently and not in relation to other things; something that does not depend on anything else and is beyond human control; something that is not relative.; "no mortal being can influence the absolute" |
| ~ teacher | a personified abstraction that teaches.; "books were his teachers"; "experience is a demanding teacher" |
| ~ thing | a special abstraction.; "a thing of the spirit"; "things of the heart" |
| n. (communication) | 2. abstract, outline, precis, synopsis | a sketchy summary of the main points of an argument or theory. |
| ~ sum-up, summary | a brief statement that presents the main points in a concise form.; "he gave a summary of the conclusions" |
| ~ brief | a condensed written summary or abstract. |
| ~ apercu | a short synopsis. |
| ~ epitome | a brief abstract (as of an article or book). |
| v. (cognition) | 3. abstract | consider a concept without thinking of a specific example; consider abstractly or theoretically. |
| ~ consider, regard, view, reckon, see | deem to be.; "She views this quite differently from me"; "I consider her to be shallow"; "I don't see the situation quite as negatively as you do" |
| v. (possession) | 4. abstract, cabbage, filch, hook, lift, nobble, pilfer, pinch, purloin, snarf, sneak, swipe | make off with belongings of others. |
| ~ steal | take without the owner's consent.; "Someone stole my wallet on the train"; "This author stole entire paragraphs from my dissertation" |
| v. (cognition) | 5. abstract | consider apart from a particular case or instance.; "Let's abstract away from this particular example" |
| ~ look at, deal, consider, take | take into consideration for exemplifying purposes.; "Take the case of China"; "Consider the following case" |
| v. (communication) | 6. abstract | give an abstract (of). |
| ~ sum up, summarize, summarise, resume | give a summary (of).; "he summed up his results"; "I will now summarize" |
| adj. | 7. abstract | existing only in the mind; separated from embodiment.; "abstract words like `truth' and `justice'" |
| ~ conceptional, ideational, notional | being of the nature of a notion or concept.; "a plan abstract and conceptional"; "to improve notional comprehension"; "a notional response to the question" |
| ~ conceptual | being or characterized by concepts or their formation.; "conceptual discussions"; "the schizophrenic loses ability to abstract or do conceptual thinking"; "sex is a notional category, gender is a grammatical category" |
| ~ ideal | constituting or existing only in the form of an idea or mental image or conception.; "a poem or essay may be typical of its period in idea or ideal content" |
| ~ ideologic, ideological | concerned with or suggestive of ideas.; "ideological application of a theory"; "the drama's symbolism was very ideological" |
| ~ nonrepresentational | of or relating to a style of art in which objects do not resemble those known in physical nature. |
| ~ impalpable, intangible | incapable of being perceived by the senses especially the sense of touch.; "the intangible constituent of energy" |
| adj. | 8. abstract, abstractionist, nonfigurative, nonobjective | not representing or imitating external reality or the objects of nature.; "a large abstract painting" |
| ~ nonrepresentational | of or relating to a style of art in which objects do not resemble those known in physical nature. |
| adj. | 9. abstract | dealing with a subject in the abstract without practical purpose or intention.; "abstract reasoning"; "abstract science" |
| ~ theoretical | concerned with theories rather than their practical applications.; "theoretical physics" |
| conjecture | | |
| n. (cognition) | 1. conjecture, speculation | a hypothesis that has been formed by speculating or conjecturing (usually with little hard evidence).; "speculations about the outcome of the election"; "he dismissed it as mere conjecture" |
| ~ hypothesis, theory, possibility | a tentative insight into the natural world; a concept that is not yet verified but that if true would explain certain facts or phenomena.; "a scientific hypothesis that survives experimental testing becomes a scientific theory"; "he proposed a fresh theory of alkalis that later was accepted in chemical practices" |
| n. (communication) | 2. conjecture, guess, hypothesis, speculation, supposition, surmisal, surmise | a message expressing an opinion based on incomplete evidence. |
| ~ opinion, view | a message expressing a belief about something; the expression of a belief that is held with confidence but not substantiated by positive knowledge or proof.; "his opinions appeared frequently on the editorial page" |
| ~ divination | successful conjecture by unusual insight or good luck. |
| n. (cognition) | 3. conjecture | reasoning that involves the formation of conclusions from incomplete evidence. |
| ~ abstract thought, logical thinking, reasoning | thinking that is coherent and logical. |
| ~ theorisation, theorization | the production or use of theories. |
| ~ supposal, supposition | the cognitive process of supposing. |
| v. (cognition) | 4. conjecture, hypothecate, hypothesise, hypothesize, speculate, suppose, theorise, theorize | to believe especially on uncertain or tentative grounds.; "Scientists supposed that large dinosaurs lived in swamps" |
| ~ reconstruct, retrace, construct | reassemble mentally.; "reconstruct the events of 20 years ago" |
| ~ anticipate, expect | regard something as probable or likely.; "The meteorologists are expecting rain for tomorrow" |
| ~ formulate, explicate, develop | elaborate, as of theories and hypotheses.; "Could you develop the ideas in your thesis" |
| hypothesis | | |
| n. (communication) | 1. hypothesis | a proposal intended to explain certain facts or observations. |
| ~ proposal | something proposed (such as a plan or assumption). |
| n. (cognition) | 2. hypothesis, possibility, theory | a tentative insight into the natural world; a concept that is not yet verified but that if true would explain certain facts or phenomena.; "a scientific hypothesis that survives experimental testing becomes a scientific theory"; "he proposed a fresh theory of alkalis that later was accepted in chemical practices" |
| ~ concept, conception, construct | an abstract or general idea inferred or derived from specific instances. |
| ~ hypothetical | a hypothetical possibility, circumstance, statement, proposal, situation, etc..; "consider the following, just as a hypothetical" |
| ~ gemmule | the physically discrete element that Darwin proposed as responsible for heredity. |
| ~ framework, model, theoretical account | a hypothetical description of a complex entity or process.; "the computer program was based on a model of the circulatory and respiratory systems" |
| ~ conjecture, speculation | a hypothesis that has been formed by speculating or conjecturing (usually with little hard evidence).; "speculations about the outcome of the election"; "he dismissed it as mere conjecture" |
| ~ supposal, assumption, supposition | a hypothesis that is taken for granted.; "any society is built upon certain assumptions" |
| ~ theory | a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world; an organized system of accepted knowledge that applies in a variety of circumstances to explain a specific set of phenomena.; "theories can incorporate facts and laws and tested hypotheses"; "true in fact and theory" |
| ~ historicism | a theory that social and cultural events are determined by history. |
| speculation | | |
| n. (possession) | 1. speculation, venture | an investment that is very risky but could yield great profits.; "he knew the stock was a speculation when he bought it" |
| ~ investment funds, investment | money that is invested with an expectation of profit. |
| ~ gamble | money that is risked for possible monetary gain. |
| ~ smart money | money bet or invested by experienced gamblers or investors (especially if they have inside information). |
| ~ pyramid | (stock market) a series of transactions in which the speculator increases his holdings by using the rising market value of those holdings as margin for further purchases. |
| n. (cognition) | 2. meditation, speculation | continuous and profound contemplation or musing on a subject or series of subjects of a deep or abstruse nature.; "the habit of meditation is the basis for all real knowledge" |
| ~ musing, reflection, rumination, thoughtfulness, contemplation, reflexion | a calm, lengthy, intent consideration. |
| rationalize | | |
| v. (communication) | 1. apologise, apologize, excuse, justify, rationalise, rationalize | defend, explain, clear away, or make excuses for by reasoning.; "rationalize the child's seemingly crazy behavior"; "he rationalized his lack of success" |
| ~ colour, gloss, color | give a deceptive explanation or excuse for.; "color a lie" |
| ~ plead | offer as an excuse or plea.; "She was pleading insanity" |
| ~ defend, fend for, support | argue or speak in defense of.; "She supported the motion to strike" |
| ~ extenuate, mitigate, palliate | lessen or to try to lessen the seriousness or extent of.; "The circumstances extenuate the crime" |
| v. (change) | 2. cut, prune, rationalise, rationalize | weed out unwanted or unnecessary things.; "We had to lose weight, so we cut the sugar from our diet" |
| ~ do away with, eliminate, get rid of, extinguish | terminate, end, or take out.; "Let's eliminate the course on Akkadian hieroglyphics"; "Socialism extinguished these archaic customs"; "eliminate my debts" |
| v. (possession) | 3. rationalise, rationalize | structure and run according to rational or scientific principles in order to achieve desired results.; "We rationalized the factory's production and raised profits" |
| ~ organize, organise | cause to be structured or ordered or operating according to some principle or idea. |
| v. (cognition) | 4. rationalise, rationalize | think rationally; employ logic or reason.; "When one wonders why one is doing certain things, one should rationalize" |
| ~ cerebrate, cogitate, think | use or exercise the mind or one's power of reason in order to make inferences, decisions, or arrive at a solution or judgments.; "I've been thinking all day and getting nowhere" |
| v. (change) | 5. rationalise, rationalize | remove irrational quantities from.; "This function can be rationalized" |
| ~ math, mathematics, maths | a science (or group of related sciences) dealing with the logic of quantity and shape and arrangement. |
| ~ alter, change, modify | cause to change; make different; cause a transformation.; "The advent of the automobile may have altered the growth pattern of the city"; "The discussion has changed my thinking about the issue" |
| speculate | | |
| v. (communication) | 1. speculate | talk over conjecturally, or review in an idle or casual way and with an element of doubt or without sufficient reason to reach a conclusion.; "We were speculating whether the President had to resign after the scandal" |
| ~ reason | think logically.; "The children must learn to reason" |
| ~ hazard, guess, venture, pretend | put forward, of a guess, in spite of possible refutation.; "I am guessing that the price of real estate will rise again"; "I cannot pretend to say that you are wrong" |
| ~ suppose, say | express a supposition.; "Let us say that he did not tell the truth"; "Let's say you had a lot of money--what would you do?" |
| v. (cognition) | 2. chew over, contemplate, excogitate, meditate, mull, mull over, muse, ponder, reflect, ruminate, speculate, think over | reflect deeply on a subject.; "I mulled over the events of the afternoon"; "philosophers have speculated on the question of God for thousands of years"; "The scientist must stop to observe and start to excogitate" |
| ~ cerebrate, cogitate, think | use or exercise the mind or one's power of reason in order to make inferences, decisions, or arrive at a solution or judgments.; "I've been thinking all day and getting nowhere" |
| ~ premeditate | think or reflect beforehand or in advance.; "I rarely premeditate, which is a mistake" |
| ~ theologise, theologize | make theoretical speculations about theology or discuss theological subjects. |
| ~ introspect | reflect on one's own thoughts and feelings. |
| ~ bethink | consider or ponder something carefully.; "She bethought her of their predicament" |
| ~ cogitate | consider carefully and deeply; reflect upon; turn over in one's mind. |
| ~ wonder, question | place in doubt or express doubtful speculation.; "I wonder whether this was the right thing to do"; "she wondered whether it would snow tonight" |
| ~ puzzle | be uncertain about; think about without fully understanding or being able to decide.; "We puzzled over her sudden departure" |
| ~ consider, study | give careful consideration to.; "consider the possibility of moving" |
| v. (possession) | 3. job, speculate | invest at a risk.; "I bought this house not because I want to live in it but to sell it later at a good price, so I am speculating" |
| ~ invest, commit, put, place | make an investment.; "Put money into bonds" |
| ~ bull | try to raise the price of stocks through speculative buying. |
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