Definition of 'empirical'
adjective [usually ADJECTIVE noun]
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Video: pronunciation of
empirical
British English pronunciation
American English pronunciation
Word Frequency
empirical in British English
adjective
1.
2.
4.
of or relating to medical quackery
noun
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Derived forms
empirically (emˈpirically) adverb
empiricalness (emˈpiricalness)
noun
Word Frequency
empirical in American English
adjective
2.
relying or based on practical experience without reference to scientific principles
an empirical remedy
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Derived forms
empirically (emˈpirically)
adverb
Word Frequency
empirical in American English
(emˈpɪrɪkəl)
adjective
SYNONYMS 1, 2. practical, firsthand, pragmatic.ANTONYMS 1, 2. secondhand, theoretical.1.
derived from or guided by experience or experiment
2.
3.
provable or verifiable by experience or experiment
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Derived forms
empirically adverb
empiricalness
noun
Word origin
[1560–70; empiric + -al1]Examples of 'empirical' in a sentence
empirical
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empirical
British English: empirical
ADJECTIVE /ɪmˈpɪrɪkəl/
Empirical evidence or study relies on practical experience rather than theories.
There is no empirical evidence to support his thesis.
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empirical
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Definition of empirical from the Collins English Dictionary
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