Conceptually means “in the idea,” not “in the doing.” You use it when you want to talk about how a thought is built — the shape of the plan, the picture in someone’s head — before you talk about money, tools, or what happens when you try it. A teacher might say a student understands something conceptually: they have the idea, even if the work on paper still has slips. Writers like conceptually simple but practically hard: the thought is clean; the real work is not. Two designs can be conceptually the same even when they look different on the outside. It is a little formal. In easy talk people say in theory, as an idea, or in my head. Though actually, conceptually and theoretically are neighbours, not twins. Theoretically often means “this is what a theory says, and the real world might not follow.” Conceptually is more about whether the pieces of the idea fit together, even before anyone tests them. People sometimes drop it into a sentence as dressing, the way they overuse basically. If you can take it out and nothing changes, it was not doing a job.