estimate

American  

[es-tuh-meyt, es-tuh-mit, -meyt] / ˈɛs təˌmeɪt, ˈɛs tə mɪt, -ˌmeɪt /

verb (used with object)

estimated, estimating

1. to form an approximate judgment or opinion regarding the worth, amount, size, weight, etc., of; calculate approximately.

   to estimate the cost of a college education.

   Synonyms:

   appraise, evaluate, value, assess, gauge, reckon, count, compute

2. to form an opinion of; judge.

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verb (used without object)

estimated, estimating

1. to make an estimate.

noun

1. an approximate judgment or calculation, as of the value, amount, time, size, or weight of something.

   Synonyms:

   appraisal, calculation, valuation

2. a judgment or opinion, as of the qualities of a person or thing.

3. a statement of the approximate charge for work to be done, submitted by a person or business firm ready to undertake the work.

estimate British  

verb

1. to form an approximate idea of (distance, size, cost, etc); calculate roughly; gauge

2. (tr; may take a clause as object) to form an opinion about; judge

   to estimate one's chances

3. to submit (an approximate price) for (a job) to a prospective client

4. (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

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noun

1. an approximate calculation

2. a statement indicating the likely charge for or cost of certain work

3. a judgment; appraisal; opinion

Other Word Forms

• estimatingly adverb
• estimative adjective
• estimator noun
• preestimate verb (used with object)
• reestimate verb (used with object)
• self-estimate noun
• unestimated adjective
• well-estimated adjective

Etymology

Origin of estimate

First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin aestimātus “valued,” past participle of aestimāre “to value, fix the value of”

Example Sentences

GDP grew at just 0.7% in the final quarter of 2025, half the original estimate, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

From Barron's

GDP grew at just 0.7% in the final quarter of 2025, half the original estimate, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

From Barron's

The investment bank has “high conviction” in Amazon’s growth potential — with AWS estimates that are far above what investors may be expecting.

From The Wall Street Journal

The investment bank has “high conviction” in Amazon’s growth potential — with AWS estimates that are far above what investors may be expecting.

From The Wall Street Journal

The investment bank has “high conviction” in Amazon’s growth potential — with AWS estimates that are far above what investors may be expecting.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• appraisal
• assessment
• conclusion
• estimation
• evaluation
• guess
• measure
• measurement
• opinion
• projection
• rating
• survey
• valuation