speculate

verb spec·u·late \ ˈspe-kyə-ˌlāt \

Updated on: 13 Oct 2017

Definition of speculate

speculated; speculating

intransitive verb

1 a :to meditate on or ponder a subject :reflect

b :to review something idly or casually and often inconclusively

2 :to assume a business risk in hope of gain; especially :to buy or sell in expectation of profiting from market fluctuations

transitive verb

1 :to take to be true on the basis of insufficient evidence :theorize

2 :to be curious or doubtful about :wonder

speculates whether it will rain all vacation

—

speculator

play \ˈspe-kyə-ˌlā-tər\ noun

See speculate defined for English-language learners

See speculate defined for kids

speculate was our Word of the Day on 05/22/2014. Hear the podcast!

Examples of speculate in a Sentence

She could only speculate about her friend's motives.
He speculated as to whether she would come.
We don't know what happened—we can only speculate.
speculating on the stock market

Recent Examples of speculate from the Web

Several news outlets speculated that Cohn could be named chief of staff, but that job ended up going to Gen. John F. Kelly.

— thomas macmillan, Cosmopolitan, "Who Is Gary Cohn? 9 Things You Should Know About the White House Economic Adviser.," 25 Aug. 2017
In the moments after the victory, Yost declined to speculate on who could fill the closer role if Herrera is sidelined.

— rustin dodd, kansascity, "Royals reliever Kelvin Herrera exits with ‘forearm tightness’ in 3-2 victory over the Rockies," 23 Aug. 2017
And, unsurprisingly, fans are already speculating that the lyrics may be referencing his relationship with ex-girlfriend Selena Gomez.

— brianna wiest, Teen Vogue, "The Internet Thinks Justin Bieber's New Song Is About Selena Gomez," 18 Aug. 2017
Some speculate that Mr Kushner has looked elsewhere, too.

— The Economist, "Searching for a Kushy landingThe Trump presidency may not have helped Kushner Companies," 20 July 2017
Those at the tour speculated that BlueScope Construction, along with Jones Lang LaSalle, were considering a KCI proposal.

— steve vockrodt, kansascity, "Another partnership interested in submitting proposal for KCI single terminal project," 18 July 2017
Scientists speculate that warming oceans brought on by climate change may somehow be the cause, since pyrosomes are known to favor warm surface water.

— jennifer frazer, Scientific American Blog Network, "Alien Creature Swarming Oregon's Coast Is Actually a Close Relative [Video]," 10 July 2017
After the launch on May 14th, Mr Schilling speculated that the Hwasong-12 was being used to develop the technologies and systems needed for future ICBMs.

— The Economist, "The wrong kind of fireworksNorth Korea’s long-range-missile test will alarm Washington," 4 July 2017
Still, that hasn't stopped fans from speculating endlessly on Twitter.

— de elizabeth, Teen Vogue, "People Think Rihanna and Naomi Campbell Are Feuding Over a Man," 28 June 2017

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

Did You Know?

Speculate was adopted into English in the late 16th century from Latin speculatus, the past participle of the verb speculari, which means "to spy out" or "to examine." Speculari, in turn, derives from specula, meaning "lookout post," and ultimately from the Latin verb specere, "to look (at)." Other conspicuous descendants of specere are inspect and suspect. Some less obvious descendants are the words despise, species, specimen, and, as you may have speculated, conspicuous.

Origin and Etymology of speculate

Latin speculatus, past participle of speculari to spy out, examine, from specula lookout post, from specere to look, look at — more at spy

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1599

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speculate Synonyms

Synonyms

assume, conjecture, daresay, imagine, presume, guess, 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

Synonym Discussion of speculate

think, cogitate, reflect, reason, speculate, deliberate mean to use one's powers of conception, judgment, or inference. think is general and may apply to any mental activity, but used alone often suggests attainment of clear ideas or conclusions.

- teaches students how to think

cogitate implies deep or intent thinking.

- cogitated on the mysteries of nature

reflect suggests unhurried consideration of something recalled to the mind.

- reflecting on fifty years of married life

reason stresses consecutive logical thinking.

- able to reason brilliantly in debate

speculate implies reasoning about things theoretical or problematic.

- speculated on the fate of the lost explorers

deliberate suggests slow or careful reasoning before forming an opinion or reaching a conclusion or decision.

- the jury deliberated for five hours

Financial Definition of SPECULATE

speculator

noun

What It Is

A speculator is a person or an entity that trades securities essentially as bets that the price will go up or down, and as such, typically has an above-average risk tolerance.

How It Works

Although one can argue that all investment is speculation, an acknowledged speculator will buy or sell a security solely to reap a typically short-term profit from the price movement of that security. This motivation differs significantly from those of more traditional investors or hedgers.

For example, consider the purchase of corn futures. A hedger may purchase these securities in order to offset any negative movements in the price of corn and thus stabilize his or her portfolio (these people might be corn growers or cereal companies, for instance). A speculator, however, may buy the very same security simply because he or she has reason to believe the position will increase in value. He or she simply bets on which way the market is going to go.

Why It Matters

Speculation can sometimes drive securities prices away from their intrinsic value, either becoming overpriced during a buying frenzy or becoming underpriced during a huge sell-off. Although speculators sometimes get a bad rap in the press for this reason, they are a crucial lubricant to the markets, particularly the commodities markets. Although they don't want to physically possess any of the commodities they're trading (that is, they don't really want a truckload of rice delivered to their door), their trading activity brings liquidity to the market, which in turn provides stability and efficiency to those markets.

It is important to note, however, that speculators are generally bigger risk takers than other investors. They are more likely than other investors to use leverage, and as such can suffer huge losses alongside huge gains.

Source: Investing Answers

SPECULATE Defined for English Language Learners

speculate

verb

Definition of speculate for English Language Learners

: to think about something and make guesses about it : to form ideas or theories about something usually when there are many things not known about it
: to invest money in ways that could produce a large profit but that also involve a lot of risk

SPECULATE Defined for Kids

speculate

verb spec·u·late \ ˈspe-kyə-ˌlāt \

Definition of speculate for Students

speculated; speculating

1 :to think or wonder about something

2 :to come up with ideas or theories about something

3 :to engage in a risky but possibly very profitable business deal

Law Dictionary

speculate

verb spec·u·late \ ˈspe-kyə-ˌlāt \

legal Definition of speculate

speculated; speculating

intransitive verb

1 :to theorize on the basis of insufficient evidence

Note: A jury is not permitted to speculate on a matter about which insufficient evidence has been presented in reaching its verdict.

2 :to assume a business risk in hope of gain; especially :to buy or sell in expectation of profiting from market fluctuations

transitive verb

:to take to be true on the basis of insufficient evidence

—

speculator

play \-ˌlā-tər\ noun

Learn More about speculate

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

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speculate

Definition of speculate

speculator

From the M-W Editors

speculate was our Word of the Day on 05/22/2014. Hear the podcast!

Examples of speculate in a Sentence

Recent Examples of speculate from the Web

Did You Know?

Origin and Etymology of speculate

speculate Synonyms

Synonyms

Related Words

Near Antonyms

Synonym Discussion of speculate

Financial Definition of SPECULATE

What It Is

How It Works

Why It Matters

SPECULATE Defined for English Language Learners

speculate

Definition of speculate for English Language Learners

SPECULATE Defined for Kids

speculate

Definition of speculate for Students

Law Dictionary

speculate

legal Definition of speculate

speculator

Learn More about speculate

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