Hypothetical article or reference taken back (9)
I believe the answer is:
theoretic
'hypothetical' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'article or reference taken back' is the wordplay.
'article' becomes 'the' (the definite article in English).
'reference' becomes 'cite' (to cite is to mention or quote).
'taken back' says the letters should be written backwards.
'cite' written backwards gives 'etic'.
'the'+'or'+'etic'='THEORETIC'
(Other definitions for theoretic that I've seen before include "Not practical" , "purely speculative" , "impractical" .)