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
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Recent Examples of speculating
Once news of the reboot broke online, social media chatter picked up, with fans speculating which eras the film may be set in.
—
Emily St. Martin, Los Angeles Times, 25 Mar. 2026
By the time the services let out, volunteers were speculating that the agents had more or less left town.
—Daniel Brook, Harpers Magazine, 24 Mar. 2026
This led to a considerable amount of commentary speculating that Hispanic voters, historically more supportive of Democrats, might continue shifting toward the GOP.
—Gary M. Segura, The Conversation, 23 Mar. 2026
Reinhart, who fans had been speculating would appear in the music video, took to social media shortly after its release to share a video with the global super stars.
—Nicole Fell, HollywoodReporter, 20 Mar. 2026
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce haven’t even gotten married yet, and people are already speculating about the two expanding the family.
—Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 19 Mar. 2026
And baselessly speculating on strangers’ personal business is a bad idea.
—Tyler Austin Harper, The Atlantic, 18 Mar. 2026
Fans have been speculating about a Hov comeback for this summer, with 2026 serving as the 30th anniversary of his Reasonable Doubt debut and the 25th anniversary of The Blueprint.
—Michael Saponara, Billboard, 17 Mar. 2026
Beck said some farmers are speculating growers might plant less corn this season to control costs.
—Star Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 17 Mar. 2026
Emily St. Martin, Los Angeles Times, 25 Mar. 2026
By the time the services let out, volunteers were speculating that the agents had more or less left town.
—Daniel Brook, Harpers Magazine, 24 Mar. 2026
This led to a considerable amount of commentary speculating that Hispanic voters, historically more supportive of Democrats, might continue shifting toward the GOP.
—Gary M. Segura, The Conversation, 23 Mar. 2026
Reinhart, who fans had been speculating would appear in the music video, took to social media shortly after its release to share a video with the global super stars.
—Nicole Fell, HollywoodReporter, 20 Mar. 2026
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce haven’t even gotten married yet, and people are already speculating about the two expanding the family.
—Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 19 Mar. 2026
And baselessly speculating on strangers’ personal business is a bad idea.
—Tyler Austin Harper, The Atlantic, 18 Mar. 2026
Fans have been speculating about a Hov comeback for this summer, with 2026 serving as the 30th anniversary of his Reasonable Doubt debut and the 25th anniversary of The Blueprint.
—Michael Saponara, Billboard, 17 Mar. 2026
Beck said some farmers are speculating growers might plant less corn this season to control costs.
—Star Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 17 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for speculating
Verb
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But Diver was heartbroken to learn that guessing cost her group a tenting spot.—
Storey Wertheimer,
NBC news,
20 Mar. 2026
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But here’s guessing that no one will call it Uniqlo Field at Dodger Stadium.—
Assistant Sports Editor,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The researchers suggest that future batteries may need to account for this dynamic behavior rather than assuming a stable internal structure.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
31 Mar. 2026
-
Alfredo Delgadillo has been promoted to CEO & President, Universal Music Latin Entertainment, assuming oversight of Universal Music Latino in the United States, while continuing to lead Universal Music Mexico and the Regional Mexican label Fono.—
Jem Aswad,
Variety,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Surely seventh graders are capable of understanding that people need to get along with one another, rather than living in a constant state of alarm, suspecting that others mean us harm.—
Judith Martin,
Dallas Morning News,
30 Mar. 2026
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Surely seventh-graders are capable of understanding that people need to get along with one another, rather than living in a constant state of alarm, suspecting that others mean us harm.—
Judith Martin,
Sun Sentinel,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
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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
Verb
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Focus on the craft in front of you without thinking of its hypothetical audience.—
Tarot.com,
Baltimore Sun,
30 Mar. 2026
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But as these researchers are the first to admit, the difficulty of defining intelligence is as old as the study of thinking itself—and has plagued artificial intelligence as a field from its very earliest days.—
Jeremy Kahn,
Fortune,
30 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Speculating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/speculating. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
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