1
as in theoretical
dealing with or expressing a quality or idea
she has a notional understanding of romantic love but no actual experience of being in love
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in imaginary
not real and existing only in the imagination
your computer's "visits" to various parts of cyberspace are entirely notional—you stay put and the Web pages come to you
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of notional
These challenges all place a premium on quiet peacetime coordination between Washington and Taipei to build alignment on notional military plans and war aims, procedures for escalation management and signaling to Beijing, and conditions for terminating a war.
—
Rebecca Lissner, Foreign Affairs, 14 Nov. 2025
According to The Times, payment of the notional rent would only be enforced if Andrew failed to maintain the property's refurbishment.
—Edward Segarra, USA Today, 21 Oct. 2025
But Tianwen 3 needs to land even lower down, with the criteria being at least 9,840 feet (3,000 m) below notional sea level, according to a paper published in the journal Nature by scientists involved in the mission.
—Andrew Jones, Space.com, 1 Oct. 2025
The United States 3rd Marine Division executes a notional fire mission with the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System during a training exercise at Camp Hansen on Japan's Okinawa Island on July 28, 2025.
—Ryan Chan, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for notional
Rebecca Lissner, Foreign Affairs, 14 Nov. 2025
According to The Times, payment of the notional rent would only be enforced if Andrew failed to maintain the property's refurbishment.
—Edward Segarra, USA Today, 21 Oct. 2025
But Tianwen 3 needs to land even lower down, with the criteria being at least 9,840 feet (3,000 m) below notional sea level, according to a paper published in the journal Nature by scientists involved in the mission.
—Andrew Jones, Space.com, 1 Oct. 2025
The United States 3rd Marine Division executes a notional fire mission with the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System during a training exercise at Camp Hansen on Japan's Okinawa Island on July 28, 2025.
—Ryan Chan, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for notional
Recent Examples of Synonyms for notional
Adjective
-
John Preskill, a senior theoretical physicist at the university with a long history in the field of quantum error correction, advised the group.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
3 Apr. 2026
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That alone suggests Google expects quantum computing to be close enough to move from a theoretical problem to a practical one, which means other companies will almost certainly take note and follow suit.—
Alan Henry,
PC Magazine,
3 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Engendered by the ubiquity of stable and robust WiFi and the incredible power of the smartphone’s system-on-a-chip design, the smart everything era demonstrates the full transfer of the smartness imaginary.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
2 Apr. 2026
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Following Christopher Columbus’ first voyage, the rulers of Portugal and Spain, by the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), partitioned the non-Christian world between them by an imaginary line in the Atlantic, 370 leagues (about 1,300 miles) west of the Cape Verde Islands.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
2 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The movie addresses metaphysical questions such as the egregore of a generation, the nature of evil, and the search for God in times of His absence.—
PhotoVogue,
Vogue,
19 Mar. 2026
-
The most fundamental consequences of being struck by lightning are often metaphysical, and not easily communicable.—
Jacob Stern,
The Atlantic,
16 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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One requires election records to be maintained for 22 months, while the other prohibits procuring, casting or tabulating false, fictitious or fraudulent ballots.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
29 Mar. 2026
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Increasingly, human resources departments noticed that applicants used the résumé to tell white lies, and even bigger fibs, listing fictitious degrees, fake promotions and other embellishments.—
Stephen Mihm,
Twin Cities,
29 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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For the people living through it, war is not abstract.—
Maliha Rahman,
Sun Sentinel,
5 Apr. 2026
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Rauschenberg was presumably familiar with Siskind’s views on the inherently abstract nature of photography.—
Hilton Als,
New Yorker,
4 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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The two bonded over Crane’s adoration of the 1930s fictional detective Nero Wolfe and the formative subject of their fathers.—
Annie Vainshtein,
San Francisco Chronicle,
3 Apr. 2026
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Getting cleared of a gruesome crime has boosted his social cache in his upper-class neighborhood of Westmont Village, a fictional New York suburb.—
Aramide Tinubu,
Variety,
3 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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But since 2021, the city’s rules have been little more than conceptual and led to virtually no affordable units, the city said.—
Chris Higgins,
Kansas City Star,
31 Mar. 2026
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Ryan, who is Orange County based, will begin the conceptual design phase of the memorial, including the preparation of detailed sketches and a 12-inch maquette.—
Magda Liszewska,
Oc Register,
30 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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In the immediate wake of Adebayo scoring 83 — second in NBA history only to Wilt Chamberlain’s mythical 100 — in a 150-129 blowout victory, Wizards coach Brian Keefe questioned the means to that end.—
Ira Winderman,
Sun Sentinel,
3 Apr. 2026
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Per the new show’s official logline, in this new era of Peaky Blinders, a decade after World War Two, the race to rebuild Birmingham becomes a brutal contest of mythical dimensions.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
2 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Notional.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/notional. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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