Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of, characterized by, or full of anecdotes.
  • adjective Based on casual observations or indications rather than rigorous or scientific analysis.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Pertaining to or consisting of anecdotes.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Pertaining to, or abounding with, anecdotes.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Of the nature of or relating to an anecdote.
  • adjective Containing or abounding in anecdotes.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective having the character of an anecdote
  • adjective characterized by or given to telling anecdotes

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

anecdote +‎ -al

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word anecdotal.

Examples

  • The court paperwork also claimed, based on what it called anecdotal accounts, shoppers no longer wanted to come to the mall, and the clientele that had stayed had caused more crime.

    keyetv.com Local News 2009

  • This is all what we call anecdotal -- we don't have large numbers to substantiate this, but we think that there may be a potential for patients to get out of the hospital sooner.

    KFDM.com Breaking News : News 2009

  • The court paperwork also claimed, based on what it called anecdotal accounts, shoppers no longer wanted to come to the mall, and the clientele that had stayed had caused more crime.

    keyetv.com Local News 2009

  • I thought this was a new low in anecdotal reporting from the Times.

    Fighting on facebook « Beki's Blog (there's an original name) 2010

  • If you want to think about this in anecdotal terms, consider former congressman Chris Shays (R-CT), famous for several cycles for being the Republican with the most-Democratic district in the House.

    Matthew Yglesias » Little Evidence to Support Gerrymandering-Polarization Link 2009

  • One of his comments, though anecdotal, is interesting because it suggests that children and adults receive stories in very different ways.

    Book Review: Coraline 2008

  • This phenomenon is difficult to measure because it was not systematically recorded, although it was frequently referred to in anecdotal evidence of the period. 3

    Gutenber-e Help Page 2005

  • The slight note of annoyance may have been as much a reaction to what in anecdotal evidence has been described as Tsietsi's somewhat pompous and arrogant attitude as it was an indication of Morobe's disappointment at or criticism of the departure of their leader.

    'I Saw a Nightmare …' Doing Violence to Memory: The Soweto Uprising, June 16, 1976 2005

  • It's also far too steeped in anecdotal evidence and what people want it to reveal.

    Archive 2004-06-01 Ray Girvan 2004

  • It's also far too steeped in anecdotal evidence and what people want it to reveal.

    Petals Around The Rose Ray Girvan 2004

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.