surmising

verb

present participle of surmise
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

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 surmising During this period, this Simpsons episode circulated on social media (with a few digital modifications), with various media outlets surmising that the series had predicted these events. — Dan Snierson, Entertainment Weekly, 16 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for surmising
  1. guessing
  2. assuming
  3. supposing
  4. suspecting
  5. speculating
Verb
  • Instead, Northstar also leans on positive signals, such as verifying when a message genuinely comes from a legitimate sender such as a bank or a retailer, so users aren’t left guessing whether a note purporting to be from Amazon is real.
    — Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 13 July 2026
  • The Bot gets -1 for guessing in five and -1 for losing to me.
    — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 12 July 2026
Definition of guessing
Verb
  • And this is assuming Brian can even successfully work the trade deadline.
    — Mike Lupica, New York Daily News, 10 July 2026
  • Nonetheless, experts caution against assuming the worst for Obamacare.
    — Joshua P. Cohen, Forbes.com, 10 July 2026
Definition of assuming
Verb
  • 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
  • The fallout In early 2025, John began suspecting Yaffe of manipulating him for personal gain and asked Tricia for help, according to court records.
    — Amber Gaudet, Charlotte Observer, 10 July 2026
  • This is designed to be a decoy to prevent the target from suspecting anything is amiss.
    — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 2 July 2026
Definition of suspecting
Verb
  • Allen didn’t give any reason for the switch, though the smaller venues plus the Montreal cancellation had some fans online speculating if ticket sales were strong enough for the larger arena setting.
    — Ethan Millman, HollywoodReporter, 14 July 2026
  • This concert will take place at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and already has fans speculating whether Beyoncé might make an appearance given the significance of the date.
    — Caché McClay, USA Today, 11 July 2026
Definition of speculating

Browse Nearby Words

surmises
surmising
surmount
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Cite this Entry

“Surmising.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/surmising. Accessed 17 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on surmising

Nglish: Translation of surmising for Spanish Speakers

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