speculative
Americanadjective
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pertaining to, of the nature of, or characterized by speculation, contemplation, conjecture, or abstract reasoning.
a speculative approach.
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theoretical, rather than practical.
speculative conclusions.
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given to speculation, as persons, the mind, etc.
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of the nature of or involving commercial or financial speculation.
speculative ventures.
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engaging in or given to such speculation.
adjective
Other Word Forms
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antispeculativenessnoun
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hyperspeculativenessnoun
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nonspeculativenessnoun
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overspeculativenessnoun
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semispeculativenessnoun
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speculativenessnoun
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antispeculativeadjective
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hyperspeculativeadjective
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nonspeculativeadjective
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overspeculativeadjective
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semispeculativeadjective
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unspeculativeadjective
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antispeculativelyadverb
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hyperspeculativelyadverb
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nonspeculativelyadverb
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overspeculativelyadverb
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semispeculativelyadverb
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speculativelyadverb
Etymology
Origin of speculative
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English word from Late Latin word speculātīvus. See speculate, -ive
Explanation
Speculative describes very risky and unproven ideas or chances. You might have great ideas about starting your own business but your plans are speculative until you earn money from them. Speculative describes abstract ideas — usually with high risk — that often come with excitement and expectation too. A speculative investment could mean putting lots of cash into a business or real estate property hoping it will make money later. Anything speculative is based on prediction: whatever it is hasn't happened yet.
Vocabulary lists containing speculative
Grade 9, List 1
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"Macbeth" Vocabulary from Act V
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And Then There Were None
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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.
Content tagged #backrooms on TikTok exceeds half a million posts, while Instagram fan pages such as @xbackroom, which have hundreds of thousands of followers, further extend the mythology through images, edits and speculative storytelling.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026
“The industry is flooded with speculative GenAI roadmaps, but few are battle-tested in production,” the post said, referring to generative AI.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
Then to add a quality component or to make the list less speculative, we removed companies not projected to show positive earnings per share for calendar 2027 or 2028.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
The tracking of his progress might be called speculative history.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
She had a happily speculative look on her face.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
