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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
Alina Selyukh, NPR, 19 Apr. 2026
His father lowered his head and stared down at his hands while the defense played a Fox News clip in which a commentator identified as a former FBI agent opined that Robinson was a sociopath.
—Matthew Brown, Chicago Tribune, 18 Apr. 2026
While some may have wanted to opine, Cucinelli kept it brief, speaking for just over two minutes.
—Elise Taylor, Vanity Fair, 15 Apr. 2026
When that day arrives, OpenAI opined, there should be a global network in place to communicate emerging risks.
—Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 6 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for opine
Cite this Entry
“Opine.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/opine. Accessed 26 Apr. 2026.
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