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Definition of "mechanistic" []

  • Mechanically determined. (adjective)
  • Philosophy Of or relating to the philosophy of mechanism, especially tending to explain phenomena only by reference to physical or biological causes. (adjective)
  • Automatic and impersonal; mechanical. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "mechanistic" in a sentence
  • "Pivar says he's been working for years in the Thompson tradition, which he characterizes as a mechanistic approach to evolution, using lab simulations, algorithms and topology."
  • "All evolutionary theories must offer an explanation in mechanistic terms of how it should or could have happened in order to be tested."
  • "Somehow you seem to think that the mere offering of what you term a mechanistic model with no evidence (nor even much of an explanation) trumps other concepts and makes you "scientific" and others not."