guess

1 of 2

verb

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 adjective
guesser noun

guess

2 of 2

noun

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

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.
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
But there’s good news: Miller doesn’t need AI to guess what went down in Connecticut. Andrew Van Dam, Washington Post, 15 Mar. 2024 The game’s core experience — six tries to guess a five letter word — is something that users don’t want the Times to mess with, Jonathan Knight, the business head for NYT Games, told CNN. Saira Mueller, CNN, 14 Mar. 2024 And follow our complete list of clues for every contestant to guess who else is under the masks. 01 Book is Kevin Hart This book refused to be bound, tearing off his own costume after his first performance during the Masked Singer season 11 premiere. Jillian Sederholm, EW.com, 14 Mar. 2024 For months, traders on Wall Street have been trying to get ahead of the Federal Reserve and guess when cuts to rates will arrive. Yuri Kageyama, Quartz, 12 Mar. 2024 In many public schools, kids learn to read by guessing words using context clues, rather than by decoding the sounds of letters. Emma Green, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2024 Fans guessed another announcement might have been made at the first Singapore concert of the tour. Mitchell Peters, Billboard, 3 Mar. 2024 Those who guess right will be put into a drawing for the jersey and must be present at the party to win. David Clarey, Journal Sentinel, 1 Mar. 2024 Competitive Wordle Score Alas, Wordle Bot guessed today’s Wordle in three. Erik Kain, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024
Noun
These are minor issues and, this being the people-pleasing Thunderdome group, my guess is that they will likely be sorted out. Keith Pandolfi, The Enquirer, 15 Mar. 2024 My guess, however, is that Trump’s rants about migrant crime aren’t purely strategic. Paul Krugman, The Mercury News, 13 Mar. 2024 This scenario, called Accelerated, can be taken as BP’s best guess for the future. Ian Palmer, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024 Searchers offered no guess as to what happened to the occupants, but noted the vehicle is not believed to have fallen off a transport truck. Mark Price, Charlotte Observer, 26 Feb. 2024 How such a discussion would disrespect Piper Laurie (1932-2023) is anyone’s guess. Travis M. Andrews, Washington Post, 5 Mar. 2024 Even so, a $40 or $41 late fee for a second infraction within six months or so, by anyone's guess, is a great deal of money to most people. Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press, 5 Mar. 2024 The basic idea is to make a series of ever-better guesses about which numbers on which levels of the tree should become more influential. Jaron Lanier, The New Yorker, 1 Mar. 2024 Here is my guess on where Apple stood with respect to those capabilities: Battery Design, Manufacturing, and Distribution: Unknown. Peter Cohan, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2024

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

Dictionary Entries Near guess

Cite this Entry

“Guess.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/guess. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

guess

verb
ˈges
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

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