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THEORY: Synonyms and Related Words. What is Another Word for THEORY?

Need another word that means the same as “theory”? Find 53 synonyms and 30 related words for “theory” in this overview.

Table Of Contents:

Theory as a Noun
Definitions of "Theory" as a noun
Synonyms of "Theory" as a noun (53 Words)
Usage Examples of "Theory" as a noun
Associations of "Theory" (30 Words)

The synonyms of “Theory” are: hypothesis, possibility, thesis, conjecture, supposition, speculation, postulation, postulate, proposition, premise, surmise, assumption, presumption, presupposition, notion, guess, hunch, feeling, suspicion, principles, ideas, concepts, doctrine, dogma, teaching, principle, ethic, creed, credo, ideology, idea, ideal, position, opinion, point of view, viewpoint, belief, judgement, reckoning, way of thinking, thinking, thought, conviction, persuasion, attitude, sentiment, impression, concept, conception, estimate, estimation, conclusion, verdict

Theory as a Noun

Definitions of "Theory" as a noun

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “theory” as a noun can have the following definitions:

A belief that can guide behavior.
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.
An idea used to account for a situation or justify a course of action.
A supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something, especially one based on general principles independent of the thing to be explained.
A collection of propositions to illustrate the principles of a subject.
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 set of principles on which the practice of an activity is based.

Synonyms of "Theory" as a noun (53 Words)

assumption	A thing that is accepted as true or as certain to happen, without proof. We re working on the assumption* that the time of death was after midnight.*
attitude	A complex mental state involving beliefs and feelings and values and dispositions to act in certain ways. She snapped her fingers with attitude.
belief	Trust, faith, or confidence in (someone or something. We re prepared to fight for our beliefs.
concept	An idea or mental image which corresponds to some distinct entity or class of entities, or to its essential features, or determines the application of a term (especially a predicate), and thus plays a part in the use of reason or language. The concept* of justice.*
conception	The creation of something in the mind. Our conception* of how language relates to reality.*
concepts	An abstract or general idea inferred or derived from specific instances.
conclusion	An intuitive assumption. His conclusion* took the evidence into account.*
conjecture	An unproven mathematical or scientific theorem. Conjectures about the newcomer were many and varied.
conviction	The quality of showing that one is firmly convinced of what one believes or says. She takes pride in stating her political convictions.
credo	A musical setting of the Nicene Creed, typically as part of a mass. He announced his credo* in his first editorial.*
creed	A formal statement of Christian beliefs, especially the Apostles’ Creed or the Nicene Creed. People of many creeds and cultures.
doctrine	A stated principle of government policy, mainly in foreign or military affairs. The doctrine* of predestination.*
dogma	A principle or set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true. The dogmas of faith.
estimate	A judgement of the worth or character of someone or something. At a rough estimate* staff are recycling a quarter of paper used.*
estimation	A document appraising the value of something (as for insurance or taxation. Estimations of protein concentrations.
ethic	A set of moral principles, especially ones relating to or affirming a specified group, field, or form of conduct. The puritan ethic* was being replaced by the hedonist ethic.*
feeling	Strong emotion. He had a queasy feeling.
guess	An estimate or conclusion formed by guessing. My guess* is that within a year we will have a referendum.*
hunch	An impression that something might be the case. I have a hunch* that someone is telling lies.*
hypothesis	A proposition made as a basis for reasoning, without any assumption of its truth. A scientific hypothesis* that survives experimental testing becomes a scientific theory.*
idea	The content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about. The idea* of the game is to capture all the pieces.*
ideal	Model of excellence or perfection of a kind; one having no equal. You re my ideal* of how a man should be.*
ideas	(music) melodic subject of a musical composition. The accompanist picked up the idea and elaborated it.
ideology	The set of beliefs characteristic of a social group or individual. The ideology* of republicanism.*
impression	An impressionistic portrayal of a person. The dentist took an impression* for use in preparing an inlay.*
judgement	A decision of a law court or judge. The events of last week are a judgement* on us for our sinful ways.*
notion	A vague idea in which some confidence is placed. Buttons and needles are notions.
opinion	A statement of advice by an expert on a professional matter. His opinions appeared frequently on the editorial page.
persuasion	The act of persuading (or attempting to persuade); communication intended to induce belief or action. The village had two chapels for those of the Primitive Methodist persuasion.
point of view	An outstanding characteristic.
position	The relative position or standing of things or especially persons in a society. Sew the band into position.
possibility	Unspecified qualities of a promising nature; potential. One possibility* is to allow all firms to participate.*
postulate	An assumption used as a basis for mathematical reasoning. Perhaps the postulate* of Babylonian influence on Greek astronomy is incorrect.*
postulation	A suggestion or assumption of the existence, fact, or truth of something as a basis for reasoning, discussion, or belief. The postulation* of the existence of a lost continent.*
premise	A previous statement or proposition from which another is inferred or follows as a conclusion. The fundamental premise* of the report.*
presumption	An attitude adopted in law or as a matter of policy towards an action or proposal in the absence of acceptable reasons to the contrary. His presumption* was intolerable.*
presupposition	The action or state of presupposing or being presupposed. Both men shared certain ethical presuppositions about the universe.
principle	A rule or belief governing one’s behaviour. The first principle* of all things was water.*
principles	A rule or standard especially of good behavior. The principles* of democracy.*
proposition	A task to be dealt with. Securing adequate funding is a time consuming proposition.
reckoning	A bill or account, or its settlement. He has hit the sort of form which could thrust him into the reckoning.
sentiment	A view or opinion that is held or expressed. Public sentiment* was on the side of reform.*
speculation	Continuous and profound contemplation or musing on a subject or series of subjects of a deep or abstruse nature. Speculations about the outcome of the election.
supposition	A belief held without proof or certain knowledge; an assumption or hypothesis. Their outrage was based on supposition* and hearsay.*
surmise	A message expressing an opinion based on incomplete evidence. All these observations remain surmise.
suspicion	Being of a suspicious nature. He tried to shield me from suspicion.
teaching	A doctrine that is taught. Good classroom teaching* is seldom rewarded.*
thesis	A long essay or dissertation involving personal research, written by a candidate for a university degree. His central thesis* is that psychological life is not part of the material world.*
thinking	The process of using your mind to consider something carefully. His thinking* is reflected in his later autobiography.*
thought	The content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about. I asked him if he had any thoughts on how it had happened.
verdict	(law) the findings of a jury on issues of fact submitted to it for decision; can be used in formulating a judgment. The jury returned a verdict* of not guilty.*
viewpoint	A place from which something can be viewed. From a purely aesthetic viewpoint* I must say that I dislike the design.*
way of thinking	A portion of something divided into shares.

Usage Examples of "Theory" as a noun

True in fact and theory.
Darwin's theory of evolution.
He proposed a fresh theory of alkalis that later was accepted in chemical practices.
They killed him on the theory that dead men tell no tales.
Music theory.
My theory would be that the place has been seriously mismanaged.
The architect has a theory that more is less.
A scientific hypothesis that survives experimental testing becomes a scientific theory.
A theory of education.

Associations of "Theory" (30 Words)

analysis	The part of mathematics concerned with the theory of functions and the use of limits, continuity, and the operations of calculus. An analysis* of popular culture.*
analytic	Using or skilled in using analysis (i.e., separating a whole–intellectual or substantial–into its elemental parts or basic principles. A keenly analytic* man.*
analytical	Using or skilled in using analysis (i.e., separating a whole–intellectual or substantial–into its elemental parts or basic principles. An analytical* mind.*
conjecture	(in textual criticism) the suggestion of a reading of a text not present in the original source. Many conjectured that the jury could not agree.
deducible	Capable of being deduced.
deductive	Involving inferences from general principles. I used my deductive* powers.*
empiricism	The doctrine that knowledge derives from experience.
epistemology	The philosophical theory of knowledge.
extrapolate	Estimate the value of. It is always dangerous to extrapolate* from a sample.*
extrapolation	An inference about the future (or about some hypothetical situation) based on known facts and observations. Sizes were estimated by extrapolation.
generalize	Speak or write in generalities. This kind of infection generalizes throughout the immune system.
hypothesis	A message expressing an opinion based on incomplete evidence. The hypothesis* that every event has a cause.*
hypothesize	Put (something) forward as a hypothesis. Lack of cushioning in shoes has been hypothesized as a cause of running injuries.
inductive	Inducing or influencing; leading on- John Milton. Inductive reasoning.
infer	Reason by deduction; establish by deduction. From these facts we can infer* that crime has been increasing.*
inference	A conclusion reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning. Researchers are entrusted with drawing inferences from the data.
linguistic	Relating to language or linguistics. A child s linguistic* ability.*
logic	The system of operations performed by a computer that underlies the machine s representation of logical operations. Experience is a better guide to this than deductive logic.
logical	Marked by an orderly logical and aesthetically consistent relation of parts. A logical* mind.*
philology	The humanistic study of language and literature.
ratiocination	Logical and methodical reasoning.
reasoning	Endowed with the capacity to reason. He explained the reasoning* behind his decision at a media conference.*
semantics	The branch of linguistics and logic concerned with meaning The two main areas are logical semantics concerned with matters such as sense and reference and presupposition and implication and lexical semantics concerned with the analysis of word meanings and relations between them. Such quibbling over semantics* may seem petty stuff.*
speculate	To believe especially on uncertain or tentative grounds. Philosophers have speculated on the question of God for thousands of years.
speculation	An investment that is very risky but could yield great profits. These are only speculations.
supposition	A belief held without proof or certain knowledge; an assumption or hypothesis. Their outrage was based on supposition* and hearsay.*
syllogism	An instance of a form of reasoning in which a conclusion is drawn from two given or assumed propositions (premises); a common or middle term is present in the two premises but not in the conclusion, which may be invalid (e.g. all dogs are animals; all animals have four legs; therefore all dogs have four legs). This school of epistemology is highly advanced in syllogism* and logical reasoning.*
synthetic	A synthetic material or chemical especially a textile fibre. Synthetic leather.
teleology	A doctrine explaining phenomena by their ends or purposes. His theory of class consciousness is predicated on a teleology.
transcendentalism	Any system of philosophy emphasizing the intuitive and spiritual above the empirical and material.