estimate
Americanverb (used with object)
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estimates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
estimated,
past participle, past
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estimating
present participle
verb (used without object)
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estimates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
estimated,
past participle, past
-
estimating
present participle
noun
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estimates
plural
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an approximate judgment or calculation, as of the value, amount, time, size, or weight of something.
- Synonyms:
- appraisal, calculation, valuation
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a judgment or opinion, as of the qualities of a person or thing.
-
a statement of the approximate charge for work to be done, submitted by a person or business firm ready to undertake the work.
verb
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to form an approximate idea of (distance, size, cost, etc); calculate roughly; gauge
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(tr; may take a clause as object) to form an opinion about; judge
to estimate one's chances
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to submit (an approximate price) for (a job) to a prospective client
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(tr) statistics to assign a value (a point estimate ) or range of values (an interval estimate ) to a parameter of a population on the basis of sampling statistics See estimator
noun
-
an approximate calculation
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a statement indicating the likely charge for or cost of certain work
-
a judgment; appraisal; opinion
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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estimatornoun
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preestimatenoun
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reestimatenoun
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self-estimatenoun
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preestimateverb (used with object)
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reestimateverb (used with object)
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estimativeadjective
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unestimatedadjective
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well-estimatedadjective
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estimatinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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estimatesimple
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estimatessimple
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have estimatedperfect
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has estimatedperfect
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am estimatingprogressive
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are estimatingprogressive
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is estimatingprogressive
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have been estimatingperfect progressive
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has been estimatingperfect progressive
Past
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estimatedsimple
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had estimatedperfect
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was estimatingprogressive
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were estimatingprogressive
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had been estimatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of estimate
First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin aestimātus “valued,” past participle of aestimāre “to value, fix the value of”
Explanation
A rough calculation or appraisal is an estimate. When you hit another baseball through the kitchen window, your parents will get an estimate of the repair costs. And you should estimate being grounded for approximately 3 weeks. An estimate is kind of like a very educated guess. Making an estimate takes good evaluation skills, and usually estimates are pretty close to the actual outcome. If the garage bill is way higher than the estimate they gave you, for example, you have a right to be angry. But if you forgot to factor in rush hour traffic when you estimated the drive from Boston to New York, that's your own fault.
Vocabulary lists containing estimate
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Arithmetic
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Academic Vocabulary: Core Tier 2 Words, List 4
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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:
That is up about 10% from last year’s estimate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026
By combining these observations, astronomers could examine the objects' colors, estimate their sizes, and determine how they orbit the Sun.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 2, 2026
According to an estimate by Goldman Sachs, the first shipments of Russian diesel might pare diesel prices in the U.S. by no more than two to five cents per gallon at the pump.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026
Next, estimate a higher-than-anticipated inflation rate and a lower-than-expected stock-market performance.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 31, 2026
One estimate, certainly an exaggeration, put the toll at two hundred.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
Having roughly doubled in price this year, Marvell shares now trade at about 65 times trailing estimates for earnings per share, according to FactSet.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026
It estimates some A$60 million of Ebitda is at risk.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026
According to the researchers, the newer guidelines communicate a useful 'less-is-best' principle but lack specific numerical estimates that would help people understand how health risks change with consumption.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 2, 2026
The diesel sales and lifting of sanctions could provide Russia with tens of millions of dollars per month, estimates Sergey Vakulenko of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, who calls it “small fry for Russia.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026
Interestingly, all of this merely confirmed estimates made by Newton 110 years before Cavendish without any experimental evidence at all.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
An estimated $3 million worth of custom furniture has been included in the listing to sweeten the deal, which can also include additional land.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026
Among people with very high biomarker levels, the estimated probability of developing cognitive impairment reached 38% within five years.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 31, 2026
Binance, founded in China in 2017, lets users buy, sell and trade digital assets - it is estimated to have hundreds of millions of users worldwide.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026
The measure would raise an estimated $345 million annually.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2026
It is estimated that a person who invested $5,000 in Netflix at its 2002 IPO would have about $30,000 by January 2010, about $200,000 by January 2015, and about $1.4 million by January 2020.
From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly
And Islam has long been considered one of the fastest-growing religions in the country, with Pew Research estimating that by 2040, Muslims will replace Jews as the nation’s second-largest religious group after Christians.
From Slate ● Nov. 2, 2026
Anthropic arrived at its figure by estimating the economic value globally in 2025 performed by “knowledge workers.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
Hipora, which works with businesses across East and Southern Africa, says employee theft is a huge problem, estimating that it accounts for more than 60% of losses recorded by small businesses.
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026
To understand their activity habits, participants completed questionnaires estimating how many hours each week they spent being physically active.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 23, 2026
As we walked, we concentrated on listening to our breathing, calculating the distance to the next landmark, and estimating the remaining time.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
