heuristic

[ hyoo-ris-tikor, often, yoo- ]

adjective

1. serving to indicate or point out; stimulating interest as a means of furthering investigation.
2. encouraging a person to learn, discover, understand, or solve problems independently, as by experimenting, evaluating possible answers or solutions, or by trial and error:

   The course uses a heuristic teaching method to allow students to find answers without being directly taught.

3. of, relating to, or based on experimentation, evaluation, or trial-and-error methods.
4. Computers, Mathematics. pertaining to a trial-and-error method of problem solving used when an algorithmic approach is impractical.

noun

1. a heuristic method of argument.
2. the study of heuristic procedure.

heuristic

/ hjʊəˈrɪstɪk /

adjective

1. helping to learn; guiding in discovery or investigation
2. (of a method of teaching) allowing pupils to learn things for themselves
3. 1. maths science philosophy using or obtained by exploration of possibilities rather than by following set rules
   2. computing denoting a rule of thumb for solving a problem without the exhaustive application of an algorithm

      a heuristic solution

noun

1. plural the science of heuristic procedure

Derived Forms

• heuˈristically, adverb

Other Words From

• heu·risti·cal·ly adverb
• nonheu·ristic adjective
• unheu·ristic adjective
• unheu·risti·cal·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of heuristic¹

First recorded in 1815–25; from New Latin heuristicus, equivalent to Greek heur(ískein) “to find out, discover” + Latin -isticus -istic

Word History and Origins

Origin of heuristic¹

C19: from New Latin heuristicus, from Greek heuriskein to discover

Example Sentences

Racial identity is often a key heuristic that helps people interpret facts, says Britt Paris, an assistant professor of library and information science at Rutgers University.

From Axios

These links were themselves selected from posts most upvoted on the social media website Reddit, as “a heuristic indicator for whether other users found the link interesting, educational, or just funny.”

From MIT Technology Review

Simple heuristics are used to filter questions from the query stream.

From Search Engine Land

It’s a facet of the “availability heuristic,” a cognitive bias that means people are more likely to imagine the future through the lens of recent events.

From MIT Technology Review

You can make some use rule-based AI, which guides the character using simple heuristics—if this happens, then do that.

From MIT Technology Review

The hill becomes heuristic for national identity (a haunted City on a Hill).

From The Daily Beast

He developed a heuristic for betting on Daily Doubles (which resulted in a wager of $5, the minimum allowed).

From The Daily Beast

In all other cases, as we have already pointed out, assumption and probability have only a heuristic value for us lawyers.

From Project Gutenberg

The instruments of Heuristic are being continually perfected, before our eyes, in two ways.

From Project Gutenberg

But the imperfection of the modern instruments of Heuristic is quite unnecessary.

From Project Gutenberg

It complemented the heuristic, innate propensity for seeking new choices.

From Project Gutenberg

The teaching, which follows the so-called “Heuristic” method, and the equipment of schools of every description, are admirable.

From Project Gutenberg