Meaning & use

confidence interval

noun·Advanced

A range of values, calculated from sample data, likely to contain the true population value.

See it in a sentence

The poll reported a 95 percent confidence interval of plus or minus three points.

Researchers narrowed the confidence interval by collecting data from a much larger sample.

A note on using this word

A wider confidence interval reflects greater uncertainty, while a narrower one suggests a more precise estimate.

Words with a similar meaning

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