guess

verb \ ˈges \

|Updated on: 16 Jun 2018

Examples: guess in a Sentence

Definition of guess

guessed; guessing; guesses

transitive verb

1 : to form an opinion of from little or no evidence

She could only guess what he meant.

2 : believe, suppose

I guess you're right

3 : to arrive at a correct conclusion about by conjecture, chance, or intuition

guess the answer

intransitive verb

: to make a guess

We can only guess at what really happened.

—

guessable

play \ˈge-sə-bəl\ adjective

—

guesser

noun

See guess defined for English-language learners

See guess defined for kids

Examples of guess in a Sentence

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.

Recent Examples of guess from the Web

Judging from past midterm turnouts, who would have guessed that GOP men and women would be lagging in enthusiasm compared with Democratic men and women?

— chuck todd, NBC News, "The Trump-Kim summit was big on style, short on substance," 12 June 2018
This generated a lot of social media buzz, as Twitter users guessed at the meaning behind the new letter.

— caroline blackmon, Detroit Free Press, "IHOP changes to IHOb: The reason why — and if it'll stick," 11 June 2018
Has the arrival of Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole, two other dominating aces, caused some subconscious second-guessing for Keuchel?

— roy bragg, San Antonio Express-News, "The unravelling of Dallas Keuchel," 10 June 2018
No one can ever know, or guess, why someone takes his own life.

— corby kummer, The Atlantic, "Remembering Anthony Bourdain," 8 June 2018
The new novel opens with Emily being called to New York on New Year’s Eve to handle a situation with a client — only to be unceremoniously dumped by said client, who then hires, guess who, Olivia Belle.

— mary cadden, USA TODAY, "'Prada' sequel moves to Greenwich, Conn., bland land of athleisure wear," 5 June 2018
Instead, its netcode appears to aggressively guess-and-revise how your opponents are accelerating, braking, steering, and boosting.

— sam machkovech, Ars Technica, "Onrush game review: Sexy arcade racing in serious need of a tune-up," 5 June 2018
In 2008, he was asked to take part in the Brooklyn Flea but guessed that the roving flea market wouldn’t be a suitable showcase for his fine art.

— michael clerizo, WSJ, "A Watch Industry Grows in Brooklyn," 5 June 2018
Their six-team group on the road to Russia included European minnows San Marino (no prizes for guessing that La Serenissima finished qualifying without a single point) as well as fellow outsiders Azerbaijan.

— SI.com, "2018 FIFA World Cup Team Preview: Analysing Germany's Chances at the Tournament," 4 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'guess.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of guess

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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

See Words from the same year

guess Synonyms

guess

noun

Definition of guess

: conjecture, surmise

I don't know how old you are, but I'll venture a guess.

See guess defined for English-language learners

Examples of guess in a Sentence

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.

Recent Examples of guess from the Web

Thus, the following picks are educated guesses at best and indulgences in a fool's exercise worst.

— SI.com, "U.S. Open Predictions: Winner, Sleeper, Tiger, Phil and More," 13 June 2018
Other guesses as to the cause include collective delusions, toxins, and infectious agents.

— beth mole, Ars Technica, "More Americans in China say they’re victims of mysterious health attacks," 7 June 2018
Twenty-five days after her last public appearance — and weeks of Carmen Sandiego–esque guesses on her whereabouts — Melania Trump finally reemerged on Monday night during an event honoring Gold Star families at the White House.

— lisa ryan, The Cut, "Melania Trump Reappears After Mysterious, Prolonged Absence," 5 June 2018
Only the residents of 13 other states were closer to being right than Floridians’ 21-cent difference between their guess of $8.46 and the state’s minimum wage of $8.25 in a study published recently by Credit Loan.

— bill zimmerman, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Floridians find minimum wage too low, study finds," 30 May 2018
Easy-to-digest poems mesh best-guess conjecture, settled science and wry humor.

— susan faust, San Francisco Chronicle, "Roundup of new children’s books," 24 May 2018
As tech companies have grown into global behemoths, their fumbles have led laymen to second-guess entrusting such massive power to so few C.E.O.s.

— maya kosoff, The Hive, "Elon Musk Melts Down, Blames Scumbag Tesla Critics for Electing Trump," 23 May 2018
This spring's competitive Democratic gubernatorial primary is the easy guess.

— nate poppino and michael katz, idahostatesman, "Election updates: Jordan, Little win nominations for governor | Idaho Statesman," 15 May 2018
But whether the bikes will get good use, or get dumped in Lake Calumet, is anybody's guess.

— john greenfield, Chicago Reader, "New ‘free-floating’ bike share rolls out on south side," 1 May 2018

Origin and Etymology of guess

see ¹guess

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

guess Synonyms

Synonyms

conjecture, shot, supposition, surmise;

dead reckoning, guessing, guesswork, speculation;

hunch, intuition;

belief, faith;

Phrases

shot in the dark;

GUESS Defined for English Language Learners

guess

verb

Definition of guess for English Language Learners

: to form an opinion or give an answer about something when you do not know much or anything about it
: to guess (something) correctly : to make a correct conclusion about (someone or something) by chance
: to suppose or think (something)

guess

noun

Definition of guess for English Language Learners

: an attempt to give an opinion or answer about something when you do not know much about it or are not sure about it

GUESS Defined for Kids

guess

verb \ ˈges \

Definition of guess for Students

guessed; guessing

1 : to form an opinion or give an answer about from little or no information

Guess what I got for my birthday.

2 : to solve correctly mainly by chance

I guessed the riddle.

3 : think 1, suppose Are you ready? I guess so.

—

guesser

noun

guess

noun

Definition of guess for Students

: an opinion or answer that is reached with little information or by chance

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guess

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guess

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