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We are not opining—that is, expressing our opinion—when we say that opine is not a back-formation of opinion, though the two words do share a common ancestry. A back-formation is a word formed by the subtraction of part of an existing word; for instance, the verb bartend is a back-formation of the noun bartender. Opine and opinion, however, both entered English independently, taking different routes from their mutual roots in the Latin verb opīnārī, meaning “to have in mind” or “to think.” Opinion arrived in the 14th century, while opine followed about a century later.
Examples of opine in a Sentence
Hanif Abdurraqib, New Yorker, 3 Oct. 2025
Columnist Cameron Smith opines about a less-than-inspiring group of Republican candidates.
—Tacuma Roeback, Nashville Tennessean, 1 Oct. 2025
Many of the people opining and whining about how this moment could be as bad or worse than the 2000 bust are uninformed or ahistorical.
—Jim Cramer, CNBC, 28 Sep. 2025
Others saw a man opining — again, without evidence that maternal use of Tylenol causes autism or ADHD in children — on mothers, children with disabilities and their health at a time when studies show pain suffered by women is frequently dismissed.
—Laurie Kellman, Twin Cities, 23 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for opine
Cite this Entry
“Opine.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/opine. Accessed 20 Oct. 2025.
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