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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of notional
The right wing-back is outstanding at maintaining his width and providing an overlapping option, with the notional right winger (usually either Bergwijn or Simons) dropping inside to create an overload in midfield.
—
Jacob Whitehead, The Athletic, 10 July 2024
Note that the share price of e.l.f. is 26% higher than that of EL, so the notional exposure of one long elf call spread vs one short EL call spread does not offset one another perfectly.
—Michael Khouw, CNBC, 28 Oct. 2024
Massive volume of over 200 million shares ( three times average volume) states that the nearly $20 billion (notional value) of short positions raced to the exit door.
—Jeff Kilburg, CNBC, 25 Oct. 2024
Mauritius may have gambled with its national dowry, but its consideration for a destitute citizenry wasn’t merely notional.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for notional 
Jacob Whitehead, The Athletic, 10 July 2024
Note that the share price of e.l.f. is 26% higher than that of EL, so the notional exposure of one long elf call spread vs one short EL call spread does not offset one another perfectly.
—Michael Khouw, CNBC, 28 Oct. 2024
Massive volume of over 200 million shares ( three times average volume) states that the nearly $20 billion (notional value) of short positions raced to the exit door.
—Jeff Kilburg, CNBC, 25 Oct. 2024
Mauritius may have gambled with its national dowry, but its consideration for a destitute citizenry wasn’t merely notional.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for notional
Recent Examples of Synonyms for notional
Adjective
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This type of cosmic phenomenon is named after the famous theoretical physicist Albert Einstein, whose theory of general relativity proposed that objects with mass distort the fabric of spacetime—making such 'gravitational lensing' effects possible.—
Justin Gest,
Newsweek,
11 Feb. 2025
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Elsie supplements her work as an adjunct professor in theoretical physics by offering up herself as a fake girlfriend.—
Clare Mulroy,
USA TODAY,
4 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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That’s when Cora fired up some kind of imaginary jukebox inside his head and proceeded to dance the day away.—
Steve Buckley,
The Athletic,
16 Feb. 2025
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Gradually, an imaginary narrative for the property took shape.—
Blaine Davis,
New York Times,
11 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Given the baroque language of the text, not to mention the metaphysical events within the narrative itself, Dieter’s exact exploits remain open for interpretation.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
7 Feb. 2025
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As in Dante, the metaphysical landscape is taken seriously and is carefully documented, as if the reader might someday go there and need to know the rules.—
Elisa Gonzalez,
The New Yorker,
3 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Created by Chris Romano and Eric Falconer, who also are believed to be back for the sequel, Blue Mountain State is about a fictitious university, Blue Mountain State, and its football team, the Mountain Goats.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
17 Feb. 2025
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Last month, its editor revealed that A.I. had been used to tweak the Hungarian accents of its stars, Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones, and to create fictitious architectural plans and buildings for the closing retrospective of the main character’s career.—
Michael Schulman,
The New Yorker,
6 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Art and math both explore abstract descriptions of the world, and so seeing great art and science pick out the same essential features of trees is satisfying beyond what art or science could accomplish alone.—
Mitchell Newberry,
The Conversation,
11 Feb. 2025
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Lot 6, Samia Halaby’s abstract painting, then almost doubled it high estimate of $200,000.—
George Nelson,
ARTnews.com,
10 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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One day, all of these mascots will seem as laughable — and as bigoted — as my mythical rabbi for the Brooklyn Jews.—
Jonathan Zimmerman,
New York Daily News,
9 Feb. 2025
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Its friezes depict a procession of gods, warriors, and mythical animals; its metopes, single panels within the larger frieze, narrate mythological battles of the Athenians against the Amazonians and the Centaurs, alluding to the Greco-Persian wars.—
Ralph Leonard,
The Atlantic,
4 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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But Robinson lent his work a different kind of conceptual underpinning via his process, which relied not on traditional training but the kind of learning available in amateur painting books.—
Alex Greenberger,
ARTnews.com,
10 Feb. 2025
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Portnoy, meanwhile, takes credit for pushing Dream Theater in the conceptual direction on Parasomnia.—
Gary Graff,
Billboard,
7 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Ferrell is on the cowbell, and fictional music producer Bruce Dickinson’s (Christopher Walken) gotta have more cowbell, baby.—
Tony Maglio,
IndieWire,
11 Feb. 2025
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But the film was fictional, largely focusing on the perspective of U.S. soldiers.—
Olivia B. Waxman,
TIME,
10 Feb. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near notional
Cite this Entry
“Notional.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/notional. Accessed 20 Feb. 2025.
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