experimental
/ɪkˌspɛrɪˈmɛnt(ə)l
/ /ɛkˌspɛrɪˈmɛnt(ə)l/adjective
1(Of a new invention or product) based on untested ideas or techniques and not yet established or finalized: an experimental drug...
- Meanwhile, the experimental products will be tried in real repair projects.
- Once in orbit, the experimental craft will wait four days before extending its solar sails, and will use this time to take pictures of Earth.
- Recently, researchers combined strontium with ranelic acid to produce the experimental drug.
Synonyms
exploratory, investigational, probing, fact-finding, trial and error;
trial, test, pilot;
speculative, conjectural, hypothetical, tentative;
preliminary, probationary, prototype, under review, under the microscope, on the drawing board, empirical, observational;
untested, untried
1.1Relating to scientific experiments: experimental results...
- To check for robustness of results in this experimental study we used analysis of variance, analysis of covariance, and nested design.
- These findings are supported by both experimental and theoretical results.
- The two groups were collapsed for further analyses, resulting in a larger experimental group.
2(Of art or an artistic technique) involving a radically new and innovative style: experimental music...
- The group has been described as the most radical and experimental art movement of the sixties.
- It blends edgy, experimental programming with traditional arts offerings.
- Breaking with the traditional canon of styles in the arts, pop art is as experimental as the expressionist or primitive arts.
Synonyms
innovative, innovatory, new, original, inventive, radical, avant-garde, alternative, fringe;
unfamiliar, unorthodox, unconventional, eccentric, offbeat, off-centre, bohemian;
North American left-field
informal go-ahead, way-out
3 archaic Based on experience as opposed to authority or conjecture: an experimental knowledge of God...
- Pauli based his investigation on a profound analysis of the experimental and theoretical knowledge in atomic physics at the time.
- What converts it from speculation to knowledge is confirmation by experimental evidence.
Derivatives
experimentalism
/ /ɛkˌspɛrɪˈmɛnt(ə)lɪz(ə)m / noun ...- He represents the end of the 60s spirit of experimentalism.
- The self-released, self-financed record veered into noisy experimentalism, with the musician pushing country's boundaries and receiving critical acclaim in the process.
- Most importantly, it hammers home the importance of experimentalism: that for this relatively new form of music to progress, artists will have to think as creatively now as they did 70 years ago.
experimentalist
/ /ɛkˌspɛrɪˈmɛnt(ə)lɪst / noun ...- The experimentalists would discover this kind of particle very easily.
- He met experimentalists and theorists every day, attended talks and conferences, travelled extensively to conferences inside America as well as travelling to Poland.
- By the mid '70s, most of these regional experimentalists had relocated to New York and were dominating the avant-garde jazz scene.
Origin
Late 15th century (in the sense 'having personal experience', also 'experienced, observed'): from medieval Latin experimentalis, from Latin experimentum (see experiment).