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Synonyms

extrapolation

American  
[ik-strap-uh-ley-shuhn] / ɪkˌstræp əˈleɪ ʃən /

noun

  1. an act or instance of inferring an unknown from something that is known.

  2. Statistics, Mathematics. the act or process of estimating the value of a variable or function outside the tabulated or observed range.

extrapolation Cultural  

  1. A mathematical procedure designed to enable one to estimate unknown values of a parameter from known values. A common method of extrapolation is to look at data on a curve, then extend the curve into regions for which there is no data. Extrapolation is often used to predict the future.

Etymology

Origin of extrapolation

First recorded in 1870–75; extrapolat(e) + -(t)ion

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.

“We’re doing a big extrapolation from watching videos of robots doing laundry to a butler in my house that can do everything,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 26, 2025

But it’s an extrapolation of those ethics at the New York Times.

From Slate • Nov. 17, 2025

In 2016, he co-authored an analysis published in The BMJ asserting that medical error is the third leading cause of death in the United States—a claim critics have dismissed as a wild extrapolation.

From Science Magazine • Nov. 25, 2024

The film climaxes with Moscow’s incineration, the Master’s fantasy of revenge — a scene that is not in the novel but Lockshin believes is a fair extrapolation of Bulgakov’s intentions.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2024

“Ernest loved technical extrapolation, and we had fun drawing such an accelerator.”

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

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.