guess

verb \ ˈges \

Definition of guess

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

A couple people guessed rainbow which, given her history, was actually not a bad guess.

— ashley edwards walker, Glamour, "Bella Thorne Is Back to Bright Red-Orange Hair Again—But With a Twist," 27 Aug. 2017
Her grown-up son is now a stranger to her, his name changed for his own protection, a shamelessly dramatic contrivance designed to keep viewers guessing for the next hour.

— stephen dalton, The Hollywood Reporter, "'Leatherface': Film Review | FrightFest 2017," 26 Aug. 2017
Because the firm is private, mutual fund companies must guess at how much their shares are worth.

— mike isaac and tiffany hsu, New York Times, "Uber, Mired in Corporate Scandals, Sees Uptick in Bookings," 23 Aug. 2017
SCA would have had to cover a $1 billion prize to anyone who guessed every game outcome correctly—a perfect bracket—but Yahoo went with Quicken Loans and Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway instead.

— adam lashinsky, Fortune, "Data Sheet—A New Place to Find the Latest Bitcoin and Blockchain News," 22 Aug. 2017
Cute/guess this confirms that Dany and Jon are 100 percent end game.

— mehera bonner, Marie Claire, "Watching 'GOT' Creators Swoon Over Jon and Daenerys While Ignoring the Whole Incest Thing Is Hilarious," 21 Aug. 2017
But the actors are guessing as much as the audience.

— eliana dockterman, Time, "Thor's Tessa Thompson on Why Her Action Hero Icon is Terminator’s Sarah Connor," 22 July 2017
Cheer-Accident have another album due out later this year, and what tonight’s show will entail is anyone’s guess.

— peter margasak, Chicago Reader, "With Putting Off Death, their first album in six years, veteran art-rock oddballs Cheer-Accident continue to confound," 20 July 2017
But guess what would happen if those same people added an hour of pillow time?

— sandee lamotte, CNN, "Sacrificing sleep? Here's what it will do to your health," 19 July 2017

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

See Words from the same year

guess Synonyms

Synonyms

assume, conjecture, daresay, imagine, presume, speculate, suppose, surmise, suspect, suspicion [chiefly dialect]

Related Words

conclude, deduce, gather, infer; hypothecate, hypothesize, theorize; believe, conceive, expect, judge, reckon [chiefly dialect], take, think

Near Antonyms

demonstrate, document, establish, prove, substantiate, validate; ascertain, determine, find out, learn

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

Nick Kyrgios (AUS) Your guess is as good as mine—and, alas his.

— jon wertheim, SI.com, "2017 U.S. Open Seed Reports," 25 Aug. 2017
Every guess seemed fair game in the absence of information from Flair’s management.

— mark price, charlotteobserver, "What is the mysterious ‘tough’ medical issue facing wrestler Ric Flair?," 15 Aug. 2017
My guess: When teams get ready for camp and see their rosters close up, the competition for Irving will heat up.

— dan labbe, cleveland.com, "A quarterback announcement is coming soon: Berea report," 15 Aug. 2017
My guess is this has less to do with Alex’s beautiful, blank eyes and more to do with the fact that his dad funded the pilot.

— allie jones, The Cut, "Here’s the Problem With the New Laguna Beach," 1 Aug. 2017
Not allowing us time to judge, second guess, question, or alter the initial hits of inspiration that drive the creation of each song.

— winston cook-wilson, Billboard, "Esperanza Spalding to Write & Record New Album During 77-Hour Facebook Live Stream," 26 July 2017
How the Friday night debate will be resolved is anyone's guess.

— mike clark, Post-Tribune, "Clark: Big Ten coaches still debating concept of playing on Friday nights," 25 July 2017
Dr. Streicher's guess is that some women become frustrated when expensive OTC antifungal creams don't offer relief, and decide to experiment with home remedies instead.

— zoe ferguson, Health.com, "Why Putting Garlic in Your Vagina to Treat a Yeast Infection Isn't a Good Idea," 13 July 2017
Plenty of guesses on social media NFL’s ‘important dates’ include Cowboys’ link to 2018 Draft Byron Jones forced to grow up fast in Cowboys secondary Never miss a local story.

— drew davison, star-telegram, "Dak Prescott humbled, overwhelmed by football camp turnout," 25 June 2017

Origin and Etymology of guess

see ¹guess

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

guess Synonyms

Synonyms

conjecture, shot, supposition, surmise

Related Words

hypothesis, hypothetical, theory, thesis; dead reckoning, guessing, guesswork, speculation; hunch, intuition; belief, faith

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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See words that rhyme with guess Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for guess Spanish Central: Translation of guess Nglish: Translation of guess for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of guess for Arabic speakers

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guess

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GUESS Defined for English Language Learners

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Definition of guess for English Language Learners

guess

Definition of guess for English Language Learners

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