How to Use empirical in a Sentence

empirical

adjective
  • They collected plenty of empirical data from their experiments.
  • More empirical work is needed to say for certain if a species grieves and mourns.
    — Caitlyn Finton, Discover Magazine, 21 Jan. 2022
  • These are empirical life preservers that pull us out of the epistemic whirlpool.
    — Leslie Jamison, The New Yorker, 1 Apr. 2024
  • There were two reasons for that, one empirical and one structural.
    — Michael Tomasky, The New Republic, 1 Aug. 2022
  • And every bit of empirical evidence points to the fact that there are no good cops.
    — Michael Harriot, The Root, 24 May 2018
  • The empirical record is on the docket.
    — Jason Snyder, Forbes.com, 24 May 2026
  • The whole thing about faith is to believe things for which there is no empirical evidence.
    — Bruce Bartlett, The New Republic, 23 Nov. 2020
  • The question is, how long can one deny a growing empirical body of facts?
    — National Geographic, 5 Feb. 2017
  • But the empirical record showed this to be at best an incomplete account.
    — Keith Gessen, The New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2022
  • This element is much less empirical than the first two and refers to where and how the ski makes contact with snow.
    — Elijah Rawls, Men's Health, 16 Dec. 2022
  • But most of the empirical evidence thus far points to the contrary.
    — David Zweig, Wired, 11 May 2020
  • Science has caught up with the empirical wisdom of country folk medicine.
    — Diane Kochilas, Contributor, CNBC, 13 Aug. 2024
  • There is a blueprint for success, empirical data to guide us, and a light at the end of the tunnel.
    — Michael Dresser, baltimoresun.com, 14 Feb. 2018
  • But that’s the least likely based on the latest empirical data.
    — Chris Smith, BGR, 15 July 2021
  • That has been disproven time and time again, both at an empirical and an anecdotal level.
    — Christine M. Flowers, Philly.com, 12 Oct. 2017
  • If this is an empirical claim, it’s contradicted by the facts.
    — Dexter Filkins, The New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2021
  • An empirical scientist at heart, Olah stresses there is still much work to be done.
    — Billy Perrigo/san Francisco, TIME, 5 Sep. 2024
  • That's a bold claim, and one that needs a lot more empirical detail than the company laid out in its press release.
    — Abhimanyu Ghoshal, New Atlas, 28 Mar. 2026
  • As such, the empirical evidence just isn’t there.
    — Julia Ries Wexler, SELF, 14 Oct. 2025
  • There are no score sheets or empirical grading systems employed.
    — Robert F. Moss, Southern Living, 17 Sep. 2025
  • But still, at least from an empirical perspective, the Ravens ought to have a slight boost by resting this week.
    — Hayes Gardner, Baltimore Sun, 12 Jan. 2024
  • But a lot of empirical work in this area got going by just looking for correlations.
    — Steven Strogatz, Quanta Magazine, 31 May 2023
  • What happened in Maui, in plain empirical terms, is simple enough to describe.
    — Wilfred Reilly, National Review, 1 Sep. 2023
  • In terms of the existing empirical research, the results are very mixed.
    — Matt Simon, Wired, 30 Nov. 2021
  • There's empirical evidence that supports the fact that all kinds of diverse projects do well and make money.
    — Kathleen Newman-Bremang, refinery29.com, 7 Mar. 2025
  • Other than higher profits, none of the rest of the scenario has much empirical backing.
    — Jared Bernstein, Houston Chronicle, 23 Feb. 2018
  • This is not a sentimental claim, but instead an empirical one.
    — Anthony Scaramucci, Fortune, 19 Mar. 2026
  • And then, of course, there is the empirical evidence collected in the past twenty-three years.
    — Sue Halpern, The New Yorker, 9 Mar. 2023
  • Launch at a smaller scale, gather the empirical data and adjust.
    — Andy Lin, Forbes, 25 June 2021
  • Decades of empirical research have shown that defaults matter.
    — Debra-Ellen Glickstein, New York Daily News, 20 Apr. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'empirical.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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