presume
Americanverb (used with object)
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presumes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
presumed,
past participle, past
-
presuming
present participle
-
to take for granted, assume, or suppose.
I presume you're tired after your drive.
- Synonyms:
- presuppose
-
Law. to assume as true in the absence of proof to the contrary.
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to undertake with unwarrantable boldness.
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to undertake (to do something) without right or permission.
to presume to speak for another.
verb (used without object)
-
presumes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
presumed,
past participle, past
-
presuming
present participle
-
to take something for granted; suppose.
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to act or proceed with unwarrantable or impertinent boldness.
- Synonyms:
- overstep
-
to go too far in acting unwarrantably or in taking liberties (usually followed by on orupon ).
Do not presume upon his tolerance.
verb
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(when tr, often takes a clause as object) to take (something) for granted; assume
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(when tr, often foll by an infinitive) to take upon oneself (to do something) without warrant or permission; dare
do you presume to copy my work?
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(intr; foll by on or upon) to rely or depend
don't presume on his agreement
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law to take as proved until contrary evidence is produced
Usage
What is the difference between presume and assume? Presume and assume have very similar meanings—they both mean to suppose that something is true without being able to confirm it. Assume, however, usually implies that the conclusion reached by the person doing the assuming is not based on much. Presume, on the other hand, often implies that the conclusion is based on something a bit stronger, such as some evidence or past situations in which the same thing happened. For example, you might presume that someone will be attending a meeting because they always attend and you have no reason to think they won’t be there. The word assume could also be used in this scenario, but it’s most likely to be used in situations in which there was less of a reason to have come to a certain conclusion. For example, you might assume something about someone you’ve just met based only on how they look (which is never a good idea). A good way to remember this difference in how the two words are used is that the prefix pre- in presume means “before”—when you presume things, you’re often basing that presumption on something that has happened before. As for assume, well, we’ll just assume you know a good way of remembering how it’s used. Presume and assume also have a few meanings that don’t overlap. Presume can mean to undertake or do something without permission or justification, as in I don’t presume to speak for the entire class. Assume can mean to take on, adopt, or be endowed with something, as in I don’t want to assume any new responsibilities. Here are examples of presume and assume used correctly in a sentence. Example: I presumed, based on your resume, that you knew how to work with this software. Example: I assumed you knew what you were doing when you volunteered to bake the cake, but apparently I shouldn’t have. Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between presume and assume.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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presumesimple
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presumessimple
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have presumedperfect
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has presumedperfect
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am presumingprogressive
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are presumingprogressive
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is presumingprogressive
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have been presumingperfect progressive
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has been presumingperfect progressive
Past
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presumedsimple
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had presumedperfect
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was presumingprogressive
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were presumingprogressive
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had been presumingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of presume
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English presumen, from Old French presumer, from Latin praesūmere “to take beforehand” (in Late Latin: “to take for granted, assume, dare”), from prae- pre- + sūmere “to take up” ( cf. consume)
Explanation
If you presume something, it means you act as though it's true before all the evidence is in. If you are presumed to be the fastest runner, don't get too cocky — that word implies that you haven't actually raced yet. To presume is to take something for granted. The famous quote “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” comes from the explorer Henry Morton Stanley, who ran into the explorer David Livingstone in the wilds of Africa in 1871. It’s funny because these were the only two white men known to be in that part of Africa at the time.
Vocabulary lists containing presume
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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The Diary of Anne Frank
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Commonly Confused Words, List 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
I wouldn’t presume — based on the script and seeing the first episode — I wouldn’t presume to get inside the head of that character.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
Your cousin, I presume, has some Social Security, however modest.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026
I’m going to presume we get it done on Friday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
"The sites we've currently explored are in south-west Ireland, but it's illogical to presume that early humans just bypassed Wexford, Waterford and Cork, and ploughed on west," said Nash.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
Much too, you will think, reader, to engender jealousy: if a woman, in my position, could presume to be jealous of a woman in Miss Ingram’s.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
One presumes he’s smart enough not to take anything for granted.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2026
Hopefully, it’s not as bad as that worst-case scenario presumes.
From MarketWatch ● May 25, 2026
That she presumes such ineptitude and desperation among her legions of users does not bode well.
From Slate ● May 10, 2026
Iran’s central bank, one presumes, injected foreign currency into the black market to prop up the rial.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 16, 2026
“Bear Island knows no king but the King in the North, whose name is STARK. A girl of ten, you say, and she presumes to scold her lawful king.”
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Monaco introduced an offence of presumed money laundering to facilitate the prosecution of cases involving suspicious funds.
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026
The balance minimum was selected because these would be people who weren’t cashed out automatically for having a low balance, and would be presumed to have some engagement with their accounts.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2026
A competent man shouldn’t be presumed incompetent because a stranger on the internet received three bags of parsley.
From Salon ● Oct. 25, 2026
Theron, who starred this year in presumed best picture frontrunner “The Odyssey,” and Domingo, who appeared in “Disclosure Day” and “Michael,” stole the red carpet spotlight.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2026
It said that there had been no reply to signals from the Survey Station, and that John Parry and his companions were presumed missing.
From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman
She believes part of that is often down to people presuming she is straight because of her age.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
Greenspan, who retired just before disaster struck, acknowledged to Congress in late 2008 that he had "made a mistake" in presuming companies were best positioned to protect themselves and their shareholders without government oversight.
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026
Videos captured people murmuring confusedly, presuming technical difficulties, before the truth dawned on the crowd that pyrotechnics would not be forthcoming.
From Salon ● Jan. 21, 2026
And that’s presuming you do make it to the Taj Mahal.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 31, 2025
“Of course, courage only counts when you can count. I’m presuming the rest of you can count, and will be screwing your courage to the sticking place any minute now.”
From "Gregor the Overlander" by Suzanne Collins
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