opine

verb

ō-ˈpīn 

opined; opining

intransitive verb

: to express opinions

You may opine about anything you want.

transitive verb

: to state as an opinion

opined that the nominee was not fit to serve on the Supreme Court

Did you know?

Opine is not a back-formation of opinion. Both words come from Middle French opiner, meaning "to express one's opinion," and Latin opīnārī, "to have in mind" or "to think." And they were thought up as words for the English language independently at different times.

Synonyms

• allow
• comment
• editorialize
• note
• observe
• reflect
• remark
• weigh in

Examples of opine in a Sentence

Many people opine that the content of Web pages should be better regulated.

You can opine about any subject you like.

Recent Examples on the Web

In 1993, longtime Pioneer Press business columnist Dave Beal opined that the fortunes of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Chicago and stops in between would be boosted by better rail connections, namely a high-speed train from the Twin Cities to Chicago. —Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 21 May 2024

Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth go inside Furiosa, their full-throttle Mad Max prequel The Furiosa star also opined that Scorsese and Coppola had misdiagnosed the cause of the fall of moviegoing. —Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 14 May 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English opinen "to hold an opinion, think (that something is the case)," borrowed from Middle French & Latin; Middle French opiner "to express one's view, be of the opinion (that)," borrowed from Latin opīnārī "to hold as an opinion, think, have in mind," of obscure origin

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

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Kids Definition

opine

verb

ō-ˈpīn 

opined; opining

: to have or express an opinion