analytic
analytic — adjective
1. using or showing a way of thinking that carefully separates a problem, situation
using or showing a way of thinking that carefully separates a problem, situation, or idea into its individual parts in order to understand it fully.
Mei-Lin wrote an analytic report on the company's expenses, identifying every unnecessary cost.
analytic report
The detective used analytic methods to examine each clue separately before building a case.
analytic methods
Students in the economics course develop analytic skills by studying real-world market data.
Chidi took an analytic approach to understanding why sales figures had dropped so sharply.
Dr. Amara Okafor has an analytic mind that can spot patterns other researchers often miss.
- analytical
identical in meaning; 'analytical' is more common in general use, 'analytic' in technical fields
- logical
stronger emphasis on step-by-step reasoning rather than breaking things into parts
- systematic
focuses on following a planned method rather than on thinking style
- methodical
emphasises careful, organised procedure; less about mental analysis
- intuitive
based on gut feeling rather than careful examination
- unsystematic
lacking a clear method or structure
用法筆記
Often used to describe a person's style of thinking. 'Analytic' and 'analytical' are interchangeable in this sense, though 'analytic' is more common in technical and academic contexts.
常見錯誤
💡 'She has a very analytic approach.' — Both 'analytic' and 'analytical' are correct here. 'Analytical' is more common in everyday writing, but 'analytic' is frequent in technical and academic contexts.
2. relating to the use of formal logic — a structured method of reasoning that draw
relating to the use of formal logic — a structured method of reasoning that draws a necessary conclusion from given premises using rules of inference such as syllogisms or conditional statements.
Arjun used an analytic syllogism to prove that the conclusion follows necessarily from the premises.
analytic syllogism
Evelyn used analytic reasoning to test the conditional statement 'if the battery is dead, the car will not start'.
analytic reasoning
Valentina tested the argument by rewriting it as a chain of analytic steps linked by rules of inference.
Sakura applied analytic logic to show why the conclusion does not follow from the given premises.
- logical
broader term; analytic logic emphasises formal breakdown of reasoning
- rational
based on reason rather than emotion; less technical than 'analytic' in this sense
- syllogistic
highly technical term specific to formal deductive logic
- emotional
based on feelings rather than logical reasoning
- irrational
not based on clear reasoning or evidence
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 1: sense 1 is about decomposing something into its parts to understand it; sense 2 is about the formal structure of reasoning — how conclusions follow from premises through valid logical rules (e.g. syllogisms, modus ponens). Common in philosophy, formal logic, and mathematics.
常見錯誤
3. referring to a statement that is necessarily true simply because of the meanings
referring to a statement that is necessarily true simply because of the meanings of the words it contains, without needing any real-world evidence to confirm it.
The statement 'all squares have four sides' is analytic because its truth depends only on word meanings.
is analytic
In philosophy class, Fatima learned to distinguish analytic propositions from synthetic ones.
analytic proposition
An analytic truth like 'no bachelor is married' does not need to be tested against real life.
The professor explained that mathematical equations are not always analytic in the philosophical sense.
- a priori
known independently of experience; closely related but not identical
- tautological
a statement that is true by logical form; can carry a negative connotation of being trivial
- deductive
arrived at by logical deduction rather than empirical observation
- synthetic
requiring empirical evidence to verify
- empirical
based on observation or experience
- a posteriori
known through experience rather than logic alone
文法句型
analytic + noun (proposition, statement, truth)
用法筆記
Technical term in philosophy and logic. The opposite concept is 'synthetic' — a statement whose truth must be checked against real-world facts. Not used in everyday conversation.
4. describing a language that shows grammatical relationships mainly through word o
describing a language that shows grammatical relationships mainly through word order and separate function words rather than by changing the form of words with endings or prefixes.
English is more analytic than Latin because it relies on word order rather than case endings.
more analytic
Linguists describe Vietnamese as a highly analytic language with very few word-form changes.
In analytic languages, grammatical roles are shown by the position of words in a sentence.
Mandarin Chinese is a strongly analytic language that uses separate words rather than verb endings.
- isolating
nearly synonymous; 'isolating' emphasises that each word typically carries a single meaning
- synthetic
using inflectional endings to show grammatical relationships
- inflectional
changing word forms through suffixes, prefixes, or internal changes
用法筆記
Specialised term in linguistics. The opposite concept is 'synthetic' (or 'inflectional'), where words change their form to show grammatical roles. Many languages, like English, contain both analytic and synthetic features.
5. involving or able to be dealt with using the formal methods of algebra and calcu
involving or able to be dealt with using the formal methods of algebra and calculus, especially by solving equations exactly rather than by approximation.
The engineer used analytic geometry to calculate the exact position of the satellite in orbit.
analytic geometry
This differential equation has an analytic solution that can be written as a simple formula.
Diego applied analytic techniques from calculus to model the growth of the bacterial population.
The mathematician proved that the function is analytic and can be expanded as a power series.
- numerical
using approximation methods rather than exact formula-based solutions
- approximate
giving an estimated rather than an exact answer
用法筆記
Specialised mathematical term. Not used in everyday language. In mathematics, an 'analytic function' is one that can be locally expressed as a convergent power series — a more precise technical meaning than the general notion of 'analysing' something.