speculating

verb

present participle of speculate
as in guessing
to form an opinion from little or no evidence I speculate that someone has been using this cabin as a trysting place

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of speculating Though, that hasn’t stopped fans from speculating about her personal connections. — Chanel Vargas, InStyle, 17 Sep. 2026 Fans are already speculating that Madonna could be a strong contender at the Grammy Awards next year, particularly in the dance and electronic categories. — Steven J. Horowitz, Variety, 16 Sep. 2026 Her Eras show doc lost its awards last weekend, and the Chiefs play the Broncos tonight, but that didn’t stop people from speculating. — Vulture Staff, Vulture, 15 Sep. 2026 In forums, at conferences and workshops and, of course, on social media, people are speculating about which of these remaining problems AI will tackle next. — Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 15 Sep. 2026 Ever since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle touched down in the UK, everyone has been speculating about what their return means, not just for their relationships with the British royal family, but for their role as royals. — Stylecaster Editors, StyleCaster, 9 Sep. 2026 No obvious pink today, something the internet was speculating about yesterday when a juror was wearing hot pink. — Colleen Cronin, Boston Herald, 1 Sep. 2026 Meta was facing the prospect of truly massive damages in the California case with some speculating that the ultimate number could have gone as high as $200 billion. — Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 26 Aug. 2026 Frank Sierawski didn't set out to discover a multibillion-dollar market for speculating on when people with life insurance policies will die. — Vito Emanuel, NPR, 25 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for speculating
  1. guessing
  2. assuming
  3. suspecting
  4. supposing
  5. thinking
Verb
  • In another moment sure to keep fans guessing, Neal leaves Joe a note — the contents of which are not revealed to the audience.
    — Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 22 Sep. 2026
  • The variation is significant enough that guessing isn’t a great strategy.
    — Gretchen Wittenmyer-Stone, Kansas City Star, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of guessing
Verb
  • Skydance will have a mountain of debt, projected to be north of $80 billion, after assuming the debt burdens of previous M&A incurred by Paramount and WBD and raising new debt financing.
    — Todd Spangler, Variety, 2 Oct. 2026
  • In my hypothetical example, his 2026 fortune falls from $908 billion reported by Forbes to about $317 billion in my counterfactual 10 percent wealth tax example (again, assuming his wealth over the past 10 years grew smoothly).
    — Jeff Hoopes, Washington Post, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of assuming
Verb
  • Legal experts say that bail is rarely given where there are serious grounds for suspecting terrorism offenses.
    — Kara Fox, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2026
  • From then on, maybe suspecting his daughters of foul play, Andrew kept the doors to his room locked — both the one that opened out into the stairs and the one connecting his room to Lizzie’s.
    — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of suspecting
Verb
  • More recently, other experts have advised American farmers to go all out growing soybeans, supposing they will be needed by the Chinese or somebody.
    — Cynthia Zarin, Harpers Magazine, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Even supposing the pledges in the 1990s documents amounted to a crime, the legal deadline for bringing mortgage fraud charges has expired.
    — Aysha Bagchi, USA Today, 8 Dec. 2025
Definition of supposing
Verb
  • Now many of the players in his locker room are thinking beyond just making the postseason.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2026
  • But points must be taken off for thinking a lesbian nun would only have gotten laid as a layperson.
    — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of thinking

Browse Nearby Words

speculates (about)
speculating
speculating (about)
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Cite this Entry

“Speculating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/speculating. Accessed 3 Oct. 2026.

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