Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Speculative"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Speculative \Spec"u*la*tive\, a. [Cf. F. sp['e]culatif, L.
speculativus.]
1. Given to speculation; contemplative.
The mind of man being by nature speculative.
--Hooker.
2. Involving, or formed by, speculation; ideal; theoretical;
not established by demonstration. --Cudworth.
3. Of or pertaining to vision; also, prying; inquisitive;
curious. [R.] --Bacon.
4. Of or pertaining to speculation in land, goods, shares,
etc.; as, a speculative dealer or enterprise.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
speculative
adj 1: not financially safe or secure; "a bad investment"; "high
risk investments"; "anything that promises to pay too
much can't help being risky"; "speculative business
enterprises" [syn: {bad}, {insecure}, {risky}, {high-risk}]
2: not based on fact or investigation; "a notional figure of
cost helps in determining production costs"; "speculative
knowledge" [syn: {notional}]
3: showing curiosity; "if someone saw a man climbing a light
post they might get inquisitive"; "raised a speculative
eyebrow" [syn: {inquisitive}, {questioning}, {wondering(a)}]
Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents;
see the Webster Gateway FAQ,
and also the Back-end/database links and credits.