[syn: virtual(a), practical(a)]
4. having or put to a practical purpose or use;
- Example: "practical mathematics"
- Example: "practical applications of calculus"
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Practical \Prac"ti*cal\, a. [L. practicus active, Gr. ? fit for
doing or performing, practical, active, fr. ? to do, work,
effect: cf. F. pratique, formerly also practique. Cf.
Pragmatic, Practice.]
1. Of or pertaining to practice or action.
[1913 Webster]
2. Capable of being turned to use or account; useful, in
distinction from ideal or theoretical; as, practical
chemistry. "Man's practical understanding." --South. "For
all practical purposes." --Macaulay.
[1913 Webster]
3. Evincing practice or skill; capable of applying knowledge
to some useful end; as, a practical man; a practical mind.
[1913 Webster]
4. Derived from practice; as, practical skill.
[1913 Webster]
Practical joke, a joke put in practice; a joke the fun of
which consists in something done, in distinction from
something said; esp., a trick played upon a person.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
practical
adj 1: concerned with actual use or practice; "he is a very
practical person"; "the idea had no practical
application"; "a practical knowledge of Japanese";
"woodworking is a practical art" [ant: impractical]
2: guided by practical experience and observation rather than
theory; "a hardheaded appraisal of our position"; "a hard-
nosed labor leader"; "completely practical in his approach to
business"; "not ideology but pragmatic politics" [syn:
hardheaded, hard-nosed, practical, pragmatic]
3: being actually such in almost every respect; "a practical
failure"; "the once elegant temple lay in virtual ruin" [syn:
virtual(a), practical(a)]
4: having or put to a practical purpose or use; "practical
mathematics"; "practical applications of calculus"
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
147 Moby Thesaurus words for "practical":
achievable, actable, adaptable, advantageous, appliable,
applicable, applied, appropriate, attainable, balanced, banausic,
beneficial, breadwinning, businesslike, commercial, commodious,
commonsense, compassable, compliant, constructive, convenient,
cool, coolheaded, doable, down-to-earth, ductile, earthy,
effective, effectual, efficacious, efficient, empirical,
employable, everyday, expedient, exploitable, feasible, field,
fitting, flexible, foolproof, functional, go, good for, handy,
hard, hard-boiled, hard-nosed, hardheaded, helpful, hoaxproof,
judicious, levelheaded, logical, malleable, manageable,
maneuverable, manipulable, manipulatable, materialistic,
matter-of-fact, moneymaking, mundane, negotiable,
not born yesterday, of general utility, of help, of service,
of use, old, old-time, operable, operatable, operational,
operative, ordinary, overcomable, performable, personal,
philosophical, pliable, pliant, positivistic, practicable,
practical-minded, practiced, pragmatic, pragmatical, proper,
prosaic, rational, realist, realistic, realizable, reasonable,
reusable, sane, scientific, scientistic, seasoned, secular,
sensible, serviceable, skilled, sober, sober-minded, sophisticated,
sound, sound-thinking, straight-thinking, superable, surmountable,
tough-minded, tractable, uncullible, undeceivable, undeludable,
undupable, unfoolable, ungullible, unhoaxable, unideal,
unidealistic, unromantic, unseduceable, unsentimental,
untroublesome, usable, useable, useful, utilitarian, utilizable,
versed, vet, veteran, viable, virtual, well-balanced, wieldable,
wieldy, wise, workable, workaday, workday, working, worldly,
yielding