empirical

1. 1.

   derived from experiment and observation rather than theory

   “an empirical basis for an ethical theory”

   “empirical laws”

   “empirical data”

   “an empirical treatment of a disease about which little is known”

   Synonymsempiric

   Antonymstheoretical

   Similara posterioriconfirmableexperientialexperimentalsemiempiricaltrial-and-error
2. 2.

   relying on medical quackery

   “empiric treatment”

   Synonymsempiric

   archaism

Questions about empirical

What does empirical mean?

empirical means "derived from experiment and observation rather than theory". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in empirical?

empirical has 4 syllables: em-pir-i-cal. The stress falls on "pir". In IPA it is /ˌɛmˈpɪɹɪkəl/.

What is another word for empirical?

Close synonyms include empiric, empiric. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

What is the opposite of empirical?

The recorded antonyms are theoretical.

Is empirical a common word?

empirical is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.