as in guessing
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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for surmising
Verb
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But the brothers - who like to keep their followers guessing - have yet to confirm their attendance at the forum.—
Andrew Osborn,
USA Today,
3 June 2026 -
Many of us had been guessing that the centerpiece shoot-out confrontation of the third season would be between Laurie and Alamo’s crews.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
1 June 2026
Verb
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Massamba Diop has one of the highest ceilings of any transfer, and Braden Huff returns with the best hook shot in college hoops (assuming JT Toppin doesn’t play this season).—
CJ Moore
June 2,
New York Times,
2 June 2026
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How data has helped root out discrimination The more imminent change, assuming the EEOC's proposals go forward, is the demise of the agency's annual collection of employee demographics.—
Andrea Hsu,
NPR,
1 June 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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On May 28, 2023, Chow and his son, Andy Chow, pursued Cormack-Belton out of their Columbia, South Carolina, convenience store after suspecting him of shoplifting.—
Peter D'Abrosca,
FOXNews.com,
2 June 2026
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Three people suspecting in a series of pickpocket crimes in San Francisco's Chinatown were arrested over the weekend after a weeks-long investigation, police said Tuesday.—
Carlos E. Castañeda,
CBS News,
19 May 2026
Verb
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Two months later, chairman Lord Triesman, who passed away earlier this year, was forced to quit after being recorded speculating about referees being bribed at the World Cup.—
Jack Pitt-Brooke,
New York Times,
2 June 2026
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The first issue of Publick Occurrences contained a few items of local news and, notably, one salacious sentence speculating that King Louis XIV of France was sleeping with his son’s wife.—
Adrienne LaFrance,
The Atlantic,
1 June 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Surmising.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/surmising. Accessed 6 Jun. 2026.
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