speculative
Based on guesses
Speculative describes thinking or activity based on conjecture rather than firm knowledge.
A speculative theory rests on incomplete evidence.
Speculative investment involves high risk in hopes of high reward—the investor is betting on an uncertain outcome.
Speculative fiction imagines alternative realities, futures, or possibilities beyond the known world.
Testable proposed explanation
- postulateAssumed starting point
- suppositionBelief without proof
- assumptionUnverified belief accepted as true
- abstractionDistilling to essential qualities
conceptual · theoretical · unverified · untested · tentative · provisional · exploratory · experimental
Prediction of future conditions
- projectionSomething that extends outward
- prognosticationForetelling future events
- extrapolationExtending data beyond bounds
- scenarioPostulated event sequence
futurology · foresight · anticipation · modeling · what-if · prospective · forward-looking · forecasting
Stake on uncertain outcome
- uncertainNot firmly known
- volatileLiable to sudden change
- unpredictableCannot be anticipated
- high-stakesInvolving significant consequences
chancy · precarious · dicey · dubious · venturesome · hazardous · unproven · betting
Things derived from another
- futuresContracts for future delivery
- optionsAvailable courses of action
- day-tradingTrading within one session
- cryptocurrencyEncrypted decentralized money
commodities · forex · leveraged · short-selling · arbitrage · bubble · boom-bust · portfolio
Philosophy of existence's nature
- ontologyStudy of existence's nature
- epistemologyTheory of knowledge
- existentialismPhilosophy stressing self-created meaning
- idealismBelief in noble principles
phenomenology · rationalism · empiricism · cosmology · teleology · transcendental · dialectical · Platonic
Constructing imaginary universes for fiction
- dystopianDepicting oppressive imagined societies
- utopianImpractically perfect in conception
- counterfactualContrary-to-fact supposition
- imaginaryExisting only in thought
fantastical · visionary · futuristic · science-fiction · what-if · imaginative · Atwood · Dick
hypothesis
Testable proposed explanation
- postulateAssumed starting point
- suppositionBelief without proof
- assumptionUnverified belief accepted as true
abstraction · conceptual · theoretical · unverified · untested · tentative · provisional · exploratory · experimental · notional
forecast
Prediction of future conditions
- projectionSomething that extends outward
- prognosticationForetelling future events
- extrapolationExtending data beyond bounds
scenario · futurology · foresight · anticipation · modeling · what-if · prospective · forward-looking · forecasting · outlook
gamble
Stake on uncertain outcome
- uncertainNot firmly known
- volatileLiable to sudden change
- unpredictableCannot be anticipated
high-stakes · chancy · precarious · dicey · dubious · venturesome · hazardous · unproven · betting · wager
derivatives
Things derived from another
- futuresContracts for future delivery
- optionsAvailable courses of action
- day-tradingTrading within one session
cryptocurrency · commodities · forex · leveraged · short-selling · arbitrage · bubble · boom-bust · portfolio · securities
metaphysics
Philosophy of existence's nature
- ontologyStudy of existence's nature
- epistemologyTheory of knowledge
- existentialismPhilosophy stressing self-created meaning
idealism · phenomenology · rationalism · empiricism · cosmology · teleology · transcendental · dialectical · Platonic · Kantian
worldbuilding
Constructing imaginary universes for fiction
- dystopianDepicting oppressive imagined societies
- utopianImpractically perfect in conception
- counterfactualContrary-to-fact supposition
imaginary · fantastical · visionary · futuristic · science-fiction · what-if · imaginative · Atwood · Dick
- uncertaintyuncertainty, uncertain, unknown, unsure, unclear
- genresaction, comedy, detective fiction, fantasy, horror
- contemplativecontemplative, introspective, reflective, pensive, meditative
- business adjectivescommercial, corporate, economic, financial, fiscal
- risk tolerancerisk tolerance, risk appetite, risk averse, risk seeking, conservative
- Unprovenunproven, untried, unverified, unconfirmed, unvalidated
speculativeempirical
Based on observation, not theory
factual · evidence-based · observational · data-driven · experimental
- idle speculation
- market speculationRisky investment based on predictions
- speculative bubbleOvervalued assets awaiting collapse
- speculative fictionGenre of imagined realities
- land speculationBuying terrain for profit
- financial speculationRisky trading for profit
speculation, speculating, speculations, speculatively, speculative fiction