surmises 1 of 2

noun

plural of surmise
as in guesses
an opinion or judgment based on little or no evidence my surmise is that the couple's "good news" is the announcement that they are going to have a baby

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surmises

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of surmise
as in assumes
to form an opinion from little or no evidence we surmised that she had purchased the apple pie since there was a bakery box on the kitchen counter

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 surmises
Noun
Nothing in your life has dissuaded you from these early surmises. — Padgett Powell, Harpers Magazine, 30 June 2026
Verb
Peter Cho, chief marketing officer of the Sleep Spa, surmises that their mattresses first became a status symbol in 1952, when the company became the official purveyor to the royal court by King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden. — Jaklin Romine oct. 15, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026 Bastian’s wife surmises that Johann must be a relative, and he is invited to eat. — Alex Ross, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026 Many Spaniards lived or even committed atrocities in the Civil War, suffering a collective guilt, Ruiz Capillas surmises. — John Hopewell, Variety, 12 Aug. 2026 Upon entering the house, Donnie surmises there is an orgy-type party going on. — Demetrius Patterson, HollywoodReporter, 11 Feb. 2026 Cohen surmises that the home was the first on the block. — Culture Critic, San Francisco Chronicle, 17 Jan. 2026 Morgan correctly surmises that a misdelivered piece of mail was a move by the Game Master and not just a fuckup by the postal service. — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 17 Sep. 2025 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for surmises
  1. guesses
  2. assumes
  3. supposes
  4. speculates
  5. thinks
  6. presumes
  7. suspects
Noun
  • The chips in question are BM1370s, which together draw up to 600 W of power, and peak at a hashrate (how many guesses per second a miner makes) of 34 TH/s or 34 trillion guesses per second.
    — Abhimanyu Ghoshal, New Atlas, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Other guesses had commenters point to The Substance, The Little Mermaid’s Ursula, SpongeBob, and the Demogorgons from Stranger Things.
    — Shania Russell, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of guesses
Verb
  • The overbuild risk The market may already have overbuilt relative to the payback window that data center financing assumes.
    — Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 28 Oct. 2026
  • Maybe The Mob assumes that someone tuning in to this show is also a loyal viewer of all other reality shows and are aware of whatever drama Demi and Harry are carrying into this setting.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 28 Oct. 2026
Definition of assumes
Verb
  • Hence, any thought experiment that presupposes an AGI often supposes an ASI.
    — Geoffrey Irving, Time, 3 Oct. 2026
  • Rock* supposes there’s a fork in the road where the Beatles take us one way and the Velvet Underground pull us somewhere else entirely.
    — Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of supposes
Verb
  • The Newsom administration is coming under fire for paying $180 million to a private investment firm that speculates on water in exchange for a relatively small amount of additional water for Sacramento River salmon.
    — Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Her exit comes as the industry speculates wildly about the fate of other division leaders across both companies.
    — Matt Donnelly, Variety, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of speculates
Verb
  • Regarding the principal of the investment from the sale of Porter Memorial Hospital, Gulley thinks the Porter County Foundation Board, made up of the 10 members of the Board of Commissioners and the County Council, has managed it well.
    — Shelley Jones, Chicago Tribune, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Those features can create confidence before someone even thinks to check who operates the business.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of thinks
Verb
  • For example, the law presumes that coordination is taking place if a candidate’s family member is running an independent expenditure committee supporting that same candidate.
    — David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times, 26 Oct. 2026
  • The decree, which must be converted to law by parliament within 60 days, also automatically presumes that anyone over age 14 is capable of understanding their own actions, unless proven otherwise.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of presumes
Verb
  • Kaula suspects a few of his colleagues were trapped in the basement.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 24 Oct. 2026
  • McDowell suspects the engine fired slightly harder or longer than intended.
    — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of suspects

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Cite this Entry

“Surmises.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/surmises. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

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