hypothesize
Americanverb (used with object)
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to assume tentatively or set forth as a plausible explanation or as a reasonable basis for further investigation in the light of established facts.
Given these data, we can hypothesize that the rise in truck accidents is directly related to the stressful work environment and unsafe driving practices of drivers.
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to theorize, infer, or tentatively conclude.
He said little, but based on his body language and tone, I hypothesized that he had feelings for her.
verb (used without object)
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to form or set forth, based on established facts, a plausible explanation or reasonable basis for further investigation of something.
She has written several well-researched papers hypothesizing about the origins of language.
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to theorize or draw tentative conclusions or inferences.
I like to hypothesize about life in the next century.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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hypothesizesimple
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hypothesizessimple
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have hypothesizedperfect
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has hypothesizedperfect
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am hypothesizingprogressive
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are hypothesizingprogressive
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is hypothesizingprogressive
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have been hypothesizingperfect progressive
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has been hypothesizingperfect progressive
Past
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hypothesizedsimple
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had hypothesizedperfect
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was hypothesizingprogressive
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were hypothesizingprogressive
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had been hypothesizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of hypothesize
First recorded in 1730–40; hypothes(is) + -ize
Explanation
To hypothesize means simply to make a hypothesis. Which is just a scientific way of saying "make a really good educated guess." Ok, so when someone hypothesizes there's a little bit more involved than just guesswork. It involves using your past knowledge and available facts to try and predict what might happen. Scientists hypothesize all the time — it's the basis for every experiment. For example, doctors examining a werewolf might hypothesize that his furry face and oddball behavior stem from an illness and not the full moon.
Vocabulary lists containing hypothesize
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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30 GRE Words Beginning with "G" and "H"
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"Ad Power," "Without Commercials," and "What's Wrong with Advertising"
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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:
The kind of contraction generated by walking moves cerebrospinal fluid out of the brain, leading Drew to hypothesize that the mechanism plays an important role in flushing out excess proteins and other unnecessary material.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 2026
Based on this, the researchers hypothesize that genetic variation in ST6GAL1 could affect Paraprevotella levels and, in turn, susceptibility to viral infection.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 23, 2025
"A lot of people hypothesize what they would have done, or whether they would have been able to take on the attacker," said Astrid.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2025
Warmer temperatures, the scientists hypothesize, make jay nests susceptible to predation by snakes for a longer period of the Florida spring than in the past.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 25, 2024
One can hypothesize that smell is produced by particles entering the nose.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Emily Choquette, director of the Torrance-based Float Clinic and Research Center, says she hypothesizes that some, but not all, of the benefits received during wet floating would be achieved with dry floating, too.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2026
Griffith hypothesizes that signals from TRPM8 and GluK2 might be somehow combined—in the spinal cord, brain, or both—to influence a mouse’s choices.
From Science Magazine ● Mar. 13, 2024
He hypothesizes that for hundreds of millions of years, bacteria in the guts of these insects like Enterococcus have been exposed to those antibiotics and have become resistant.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 29, 2024
Heckscher hypothesizes that this change in diet may help the veery return to North America in better shape, more capable of a longer breeding season.
From National Geographic ● Jul. 28, 2023
The new paper hypothesizes there are plumes of magma which exist around the IOGL.
From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2023
He also hypothesized that Tesla could cut vehicle or FSD prices to make its EVs more affordable and attractive to consumers.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026
Thus, she has hypothesized, if logging companies were to leave some of the so-called mother trees standing, depleted forests would find it easier to regenerate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
The genes were biologically "toxic" to humans, researchers hypothesized, and eventually purged out -- in essence, the children who inherited those traits might not have lived to pass them on.
From Barron's ● Feb. 26, 2026
Scientists can use them to test whether certain hypothesized light-weight elementary particles exist and how massive they are.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 30, 2025
Details of language distributions provide valuable clues to the route of this hypothesized Austronesian expansion.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Musk has long sold his vision for Tesla to become the world’s most-valuable company, hypothesizing an eventual $30 trillion valuation on the strength of its robotics and AI products.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 2026
My whole goal with this show was to capture a small sliver of the zeitgeist where people could be talking about something, hypothesizing and talking, and I knew that required a weekly release.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2025
Thus, a controversy was sparked, with many scientists hypothesizing that non-cyanobacterial microorganisms must be responsible for the "missing" nitrogen fixation.
From Science Daily ● May 9, 2024
I wore it during the day, hypothesizing that the additional data would help it distinguish sleep from horizontal wakefulness.
From Slate ● Sep. 6, 2023
No amount of your analyzing, criticizing, judging, or hypothesizing will bring the peace you are looking for.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
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.
