guessed; guessing; guesses
1
: to form an opinion of from little or no evidence
She could only guess what he meant.
3
: to arrive at a correct conclusion about by conjecture, chance, or intuition
guess the answer
: to make a guess
We can only guess at what really happened.
guesser
noun
: conjecture, surmise
I don't know how old you are, but I'll venture a guess.
Synonyms
Examples of guess in a Sentence
Verb
Can you guess how many people were there?
He guessed that it would rain today.
It was colder and windier than I had guessed it would be.
She can only guess what he meant.
I had to choose one, and I guessed right.
If you can't think of an answer, guess.
“I just heard why he left her.” “Let me guess—another woman.”
As you might have guessed, her parents are not happy about her decision.
We can only guess at what really happened.
She guessed my age on her first try.
Noun
I'm not sure how old he is, but I'm willing to hazard a guess.
My guess is that he'll change his story when he realizes how much trouble he's in.
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Recent Examples on the Web
Lauren Kaori Gurley, Washington Post, 15 Sep. 2023
Human writing tends to rate higher than AI writing on both metrics, which allowed Tian to guess how a piece of text had been created.
—Christopher Beam, WIRED, 14 Sep. 2023
Ensuring an executive’s identity remains their own requires a more complex approach to passwords that are longer, stronger, and harder for someone else to guess.
—Chintan Patel, Fortune, 12 Sep. 2023
The widgets are customizable, and watchOS gains a Smart Stack widget, which uses machine learning to guess which widgets will be most important to you at points throughout your day.
—Wes Davis, The Verge, 12 Sep. 2023
No one will guess this meal uses basic leftover chicken.
—Southern Living Editors, Southern Living, 12 Sep. 2023
Fans, however, have long guessed it was inspired by her split with her High School Musial: The Musical: The Series co-star Joshua Bassett, who then allegedly struck up a relationship with another fellow Disney actor, Sabrina Carpenter.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 12 Sep. 2023
In some ways, the best practices for math parallel the science of reading, which emphasizes detailed, explicit instruction in phonics, instead of letting kids guess how to read a word based on pictures or context clues.
—Sharon Lurye, The Christian Science Monitor, 12 Sep. 2023
But seriously, who would have guessed Noah would score the first touchdown of the Cowboys’ season?
—Kristi Scales, Dallas News, 11 Sep. 2023
Will Greenwald, PCMAG, 13 Sep. 2023
The installation date for the new system is anyone’s guess.
—Ndaschel, oregonlive, 12 Sep. 2023
How Lars Ulrich still drums like that at 59 is anybody’s guess.
—Ed Masley, The Arizona Republic, 10 Sep. 2023
My guess is, Burrow looks OK, but this is more of a get-back-into-a-rhythm game for him than anything.
—Ashley Bastock, cleveland, 9 Sep. 2023
But exactly when those trains will return is anyone’s guess.
—John Sharp | Jsharp@al.com, al, 9 Sep. 2023
The guess here is Clowney will play a lot of snaps and vie with the still-improving Madubuike for the team sack lead.
—Baltimore Sun Staff, Baltimore Sun, 7 Sep. 2023
If your guess is Hawaii, the Maldives, or Bali, think again.
—Isabelle Kliger, Vogue, 6 Sep. 2023
Whether the strikes end in the fall, January or somewhere in between — or beyond — is anyone’s guess.
—Ryan Faughnder, Los Angeles Times, 5 Sep. 2023
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Verb
Fain said Thursday night that union workers at all three companies should be ready to join the strike immediately if called upon, so the automakers have to keep guessing about which factories could be hit next — pressuring them to bargain.
—Lauren Kaori Gurley, Washington Post, 15 Sep. 2023
Human writing tends to rate higher than AI writing on both metrics, which allowed Tian to guess how a piece of text had been created.
—Christopher Beam, WIRED, 14 Sep. 2023
Ensuring an executive’s identity remains their own requires a more complex approach to passwords that are longer, stronger, and harder for someone else to guess.
—Chintan Patel, Fortune, 12 Sep. 2023
The widgets are customizable, and watchOS gains a Smart Stack widget, which uses machine learning to guess which widgets will be most important to you at points throughout your day.
—Wes Davis, The Verge, 12 Sep. 2023
No one will guess this meal uses basic leftover chicken.
—Southern Living Editors, Southern Living, 12 Sep. 2023
Fans, however, have long guessed it was inspired by her split with her High School Musial: The Musical: The Series co-star Joshua Bassett, who then allegedly struck up a relationship with another fellow Disney actor, Sabrina Carpenter.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 12 Sep. 2023
In some ways, the best practices for math parallel the science of reading, which emphasizes detailed, explicit instruction in phonics, instead of letting kids guess how to read a word based on pictures or context clues.
—Sharon Lurye, The Christian Science Monitor, 12 Sep. 2023
But seriously, who would have guessed Noah would score the first touchdown of the Cowboys’ season?
—Kristi Scales, Dallas News, 11 Sep. 2023
Noun
Here are some of the iPhone 15 rumors and guesses from the tech community that didn't come true.
—Will Greenwald, PCMAG, 13 Sep. 2023
The installation date for the new system is anyone’s guess.
—Ndaschel, oregonlive, 12 Sep. 2023
How Lars Ulrich still drums like that at 59 is anybody’s guess.
—Ed Masley, The Arizona Republic, 10 Sep. 2023
My guess is, Burrow looks OK, but this is more of a get-back-into-a-rhythm game for him than anything.
—Ashley Bastock, cleveland, 9 Sep. 2023
But exactly when those trains will return is anyone’s guess.
—John Sharp | Jsharp@al.com, al, 9 Sep. 2023
The guess here is Clowney will play a lot of snaps and vie with the still-improving Madubuike for the team sack lead.
—Baltimore Sun Staff, Baltimore Sun, 7 Sep. 2023
If your guess is Hawaii, the Maldives, or Bali, think again.
—Isabelle Kliger, Vogue, 6 Sep. 2023
Whether the strikes end in the fall, January or somewhere in between — or beyond — is anyone’s guess.
—Ryan Faughnder, Los Angeles Times, 5 Sep. 2023
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'guess.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Verb and Noun
Middle English gessen, perhaps of Scandinavian origin; akin to Norwegian & Swedish gissa to guess, Middle Dutch gissen, gessen, Old Norse geta to get, guess — more at get
First Known Use
Verb
14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1
Noun
14th century, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of guess was
in the 14th century
Phrases Containing guess
Articles Related to guess
Dictionary Entries Near guess
Cite this Entry
“Guess.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/guess. Accessed 26 Sep. 2023.
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Kids Definition
guess
verbˈges
1
: to form an opinion from little or no evidence
2
: to solve correctly by or as if by chance
we guessed the riddle
3
: believe sense 5, suppose
I guess you're right
guess
noun
guesser
noun
More from Merriam-Webster on guess
Nglish: Translation of guess for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of guess for Arabic Speakers
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