speculation

noun

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spec·u·la·tion | \ ˌspe-kyə-ˈlā-shən

Definition of speculation

: an act or instance of speculating: such as

a : assumption of unusual business risk in hopes of obtaining commensurate gain

b : a transaction involving such speculation

Synonyms & Antonyms Example Sentences Phrases Containing speculation Learn More About speculation

Synonyms & Antonyms for speculation

Synonyms

Antonyms

sure thing

Examples of speculation in a Sentence

He dismissed their theories as mere speculation. The book is just a lot of idle speculation about the future. Her speculations leave many questions unanswered. He lost everything in foolish land speculation.

Recent Examples on the Web Still, the crime was sensational enough to warrant speculation as to whether or not Montgomery really did murder her friend. — Milan Polk, Men's Health, 12 May 2022 The system has proven rife with wild speculation and technically-legal shadiness, as Reuters’ report detailed Wednesday. — Jacob Carpenter, Fortune, 11 May 2022 After speculation abounded that the 34-year-old had called things off with her sports agent boyfriend, Rich Paul, Adele shared a series of photos to her Instagram of the couple getting their PDA on. — Sam Reed, Glamour, 11 May 2022 The Finance Ministry is speeding up approval of local bonds to help finance infrastructure investment, while putting on the back burner experiments with new property-tax programs that Mr. Xi had advocated as a way to tamp down housing speculation. — Lingling Wei, WSJ, 11 May 2022 Despite a global financial crisis and speculation of another bubble burst, the trajectories of companies such as Facebook and Google stayed on course. — Washington Post, 10 May 2022 There is material here to feed speculation but not to replace it with certainty. — Nikhil Krishnan, The New Yorker, 9 May 2022 Khudainatov has been tied to another even larger yacht that is the focus of intense international speculation and investigation in Italy. — Graham Kates, CBS News, 5 May 2022 As for speculation that the assault may have been tied to Chappelle’s controversial comments about the transgender community, Aaron was unsure. — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 4 May 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'speculation.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.