speculator

noun

spec·​u·​la·​tor ˈspe-kyə-ˌlā-tər 

plural speculators

: someone who speculates: such as

a

: a person who thinks or guesses especially in an idle or casual way about something that is unknown or uncertain

I sat Friday night in the dining room in front of my laptop, the TV in the next room flitting among experts and speculators about what happened in Paris …

—Scott Martelle

"… All that we ought to ask, therefore, is, that the witnesses of our conduct, and the speculators on our motives, should be capable of taking the highest view which the circumstances of the case may admit. …"

—Nathaniel Hawthorne

b

: a person who makes a relatively risky investment in something (such as stocks or real estate) in the hope of making a large short-term profit from market fluctuations

futures/currency speculators

By the late 1870s Edward Pray was living in New York City, still interested in mining but instead now as a speculator in mining stocks.

—Willa Kane

Over the years, many houses have been bought by speculators or real estate companies and rented out.

—Margaret Gillerman

Examples of speculator in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick had more good news for speculators this week. —Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 27 June 2025

Samson realizes that arresting speculators and burglars on behalf of the Bolsheviks will not bring back the stability of his middle-class, prerevolutionary youth. —Uilleam Blacker, The Atlantic, 4 June 2025

Trump holds a private dinner at the White House for major speculators who purchase his new cryptocurrency, earning him and his allies $900,000 in trading fees in just under two days. —Robert B. Reich, Hartford Courant, 7 May 2025

For some technological speculators, the universe could be considered a gold mine. —Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 1 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

speculate + -or entry 1; in earlier sense "observer, lookout," borrowed from Latin speculātor "scout, spy, sentinel," from speculārī "to keep a close watch on, spy out, watch for" + -tor, agent suffix — more at speculate

First Known Use

1555, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for speculator

• activator
• actuator
• agitator
• alligator
• allocator
• alternator
• animator
• annotator
• applicator
• arbitrator
• aspirator
• aviator