as in assumes
to form an opinion from little or no evidence
I speculate that someone has been using this cabin as a trysting place
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Recent Examples of speculates
Instead, Romańczyk speculates that endoscopists became so used to looking for the green box that when the technology was no longer there, the specialists did not have that cue to pay attention to certain areas.
—
Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2025
While multiple couples reportedly leave the show together, Reality Steve speculates that one couple gets engaged and may win the cash prize.
—Dina Kaur, AZCentral.com, 12 Aug. 2025
Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2025
While multiple couples reportedly leave the show together, Reality Steve speculates that one couple gets engaged and may win the cash prize.
—Dina Kaur, AZCentral.com, 12 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for speculates
Verb
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Here, Jake Gyllenhaal assumes the iconic role of Dalton — originally played by Patrick Swayze in 1989 — a former UFC fighter who takes a bouncer gig at Florida's rowdy Double Deuce joint.—
Catherine Santino,
PEOPLE,
6 Sep. 2025
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Despite having what one assumes is the pick of the litter with A-list celebrities willing to lend their insights on McCartney, Wings and the Beatles, Neville wisely chooses to keep the outside voices to a minimum.—
Caleb Hammond,
IndieWire,
4 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Skye even correctly guesses how long Billy has been microdosing ‘shrooms, based on his chill demeanor.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
31 Aug. 2025
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As such, Ashley guesses every page of the script has been modified in some way over the past four weeks, and the team has thrown out two songs and wrote two originals in their place.—
Noah Lyons,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
11 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Porter thinks airport lounges can be part of what’s offered to travelers, and won’t go away.—
Vinod Sreeharsha,
Miami Herald,
6 Sep. 2025
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The 75-year-old daughter of Sam Walton, the late Walmart founder who turned a five-and-dime store in rural Arkansas into the world’s largest company by revenue, thinks the US is very close to that breaking point.—
Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson,
semafor.com,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
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This premium valuation presumes that the company can maintain double-digit growth and margin expansion in the long term.—
Trefis Team,
Forbes.com,
29 Aug. 2025
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Hank, in attempting to save himself, starts to act out a stereotype of his own, the Western loner who presumes to take on a hero’s mantle.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
28 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Adapted from a French bestseller, the dystopian thriller imagines a near-future Paris in which neighborhoods have been divided up into zones based on social class, with a police force operating under the command of ALMA, a predictive AI system (voiced, in the film, by an actual AI system).—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
29 Aug. 2025
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Herzog imagines our earliest ancestors might have evinced a similar curiosity about the novel fire-scarred landscape — seeing fire less as a seasonal catastrophe than as a potential caloric windfall.—
Peter Brannen,
Big Think,
28 Aug. 2025
Verb
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In the study, Ned correctly surmises that Colum riled Dougal up into beating Malcolm so that Colum could be seen as the cooler head/better leader.—
Kimberly Roots,
TVLine,
8 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Owen suspects his soon-to-be in-laws (Pierce Brosnan and Ellen Barkin) as the masterminds behind the heist.—
James Mercadante,
PEOPLE,
4 Sep. 2025
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Specifically, the league suspects that Nielsen’s co-viewing tallies are falling shy of the actual consumption patterns.—
Anthony Crupi,
Sportico.com,
2 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Speculates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/speculates. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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