estimate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
-
an approximate judgment or calculation, as of the value, amount, time, size, or weight of something.
- Synonyms:
- appraisal, calculation, valuation
-
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
-
to form an approximate idea of (distance, size, cost, etc); calculate roughly; gauge
-
(tr; may take a clause as object) to form an opinion about; judge
to estimate one's chances
-
to submit (an approximate price) for (a job) to a prospective client
-
(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
-
a statement indicating the likely charge for or cost of certain work
-
a judgment; appraisal; opinion
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
estimatornoun
-
preestimatenoun
-
reestimatenoun
-
self-estimatenoun
-
preestimateverb (used with object)
-
reestimateverb (used with object)
-
estimativeadjective
-
unestimatedadjective
-
well-estimatedadjective
-
estimatinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
estimatesimple
-
estimatessimple
-
have estimatedperfect
-
has estimatedperfect
-
am estimatingprogressive
-
are estimatingprogressive
-
is estimatingprogressive
-
have been estimatingperfect progressive
-
has been estimatingperfect progressive
Past
-
estimatedsimple
-
had estimatedperfect
-
was estimatingprogressive
-
were estimatingprogressive
-
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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Tax Day Words
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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:
For the current third quarter, Marriott forecasts adjusted earnings of $2.74 a share to $2.82 a share, which would be below analysts’ estimate of $2.86 a share.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
At least 72 people died during the recent mass influx of migrants into Spain's Ceuta enclave from Morocco, Spanish officials said on Sunday, though Moroccan officials later presented a lower estimate.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
It provided no estimate when the restrooms, road or parking lot would reopen but noted that the county was “assessing the damage” and would provide updates as information became available.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026
Climate models are computer simulations that use the laws of physics to estimate how the atmosphere, oceans, ice, and land respond to greenhouse gases and other influences.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 1, 2026
They would call for an estimate and ask Kathy, “Zeitoun, where’s that name come from? Where is he from?”
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
AMD is expected to report overall revenue of $11.3 billion for the June quarter, according to estimates compiled by FactSet.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026
Rescuers worked through the night to find survivors even as estimates of the number of missing people kept changing.
From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026
On Broadway, she estimates, it would have cost $5 million to $6 million.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
The Sony Pictures film also brought in $572 million internationally for a worldwide total of $927 million, according to studio estimates.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026
The forbidding complex of twenty buildings employed 7,000 people; by some estimates, the Stasi archives contained more than one billion documents describing the vast network of spies and informers cultivated over four decades.
From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau
In 2018, the city estimated that the median neighborhood homeowner had moved into a home in 1988.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
Some 300,000 people were expected to take part in or watch the community parade on Saturday, while up to 450,000 people were estimated to turn out city-wide for Pride.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
Record-breaking heatwaves in May and June led to an estimated 2,877 excess deaths in England, the UK Health Security Agency said last week.
From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026
Correcting this disparity, they estimated, would require insurers to hold roughly $4.5 billion more capital each year.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026
That would feed them for two days, Lupita estimated.
From "Lupita Mañana" by Patricia Beatty
For the third quarter, the company guided for subscription revenue of $3.98 billion to $3.98 billion, below the $4.01 billion that Wall Street is estimating.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
Ofcom has set out a number of ways websites can verify the age of users, including through credit card checks, photo ID matching and estimating age using a selfie.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
It works much like estimating how far away a car is at night if you know how bright its headlights are.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 5, 2026
But officials have avoided estimating the number of missing, though the UN has put that figure at as many as 50,000.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
“They are estimating nine million at the last count,” my father said.
From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri
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.
