opinion
Americannoun
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opinions
plural
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a belief or judgment that rests on grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty.
- Synonyms:
- impression, idea, notion, persuasion
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a personal view, attitude, or appraisal.
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the formal expression of a professional judgment.
to ask for a second medical opinion.
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Law. the formal statement by a judge or court of the reasoning and the principles of law used in reaching a decision of a case.
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a judgment or estimate of a person or thing with respect to character, merit, etc..
to forfeit someone's good opinion.
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Archaic. a favorable estimate; esteem.
I haven't much of an opinion of him.
noun
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judgment or belief not founded on certainty or proof
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the prevailing or popular feeling or view
public opinion
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evaluation, impression, or estimation of the value or worth of a person or thing
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an evaluation or judgment given by an expert
a medical opinion
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the advice given by a barrister or counsel on a case submitted to him or her for a view on the legal points involved
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a point open to question
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to believe that
Synonym Usage
Opinion, sentiment, view are terms for one's conclusion about something. An opinion is a belief or judgment that falls short of absolute conviction, certainty, or positive knowledge; it is a conclusion that certain facts, ideas, etc., are probably true or likely to prove so: political opinions; an opinion about art; In my opinion this is true. Sentiment (usually pl. ) refers to a rather fixed conviction, usually based on feeling or emotion rather than reasoning: These are my sentiments. View is an estimate of something, an intellectual judgment, a critical survey based on a mental examination, particularly of a public matter: views on governmental planning.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of opinion
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Old French, from Latin opīniōn- (stem of opīniō ), derivative of opīnārī “to think, deem”
Explanation
An opinion is a belief or attitude about something that isn't necessarily based on facts. It's your opinion that dogs make better pets than cats, but your sister thinks that cats are superior. Too bad your parents' opinion is that pets are too expensive. You may have an opinion about a celebrity that I don't share. There's no way to prove who's right and who's wrong. Those are our thoughts about her, and that's the way it is. Ironically, when a judge decides a case, his or her ruling is referred to as an opinion. Even though what the judge says will become a matter of law, it's still just their opinion, based on what was presented by the two sides in a trial.
Vocabulary lists containing opinion
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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Academic Vocabulary Toolkit 1, Words 61-70
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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:
Hyperscaler capex is not rolling over, in Rizzo’s opinion.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026
That particular opinion was echoed across several reviews, which argued that Knox is less a stand‑up comedian and more of a storyteller.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
Chief Justice John Roberts’ opinion for the court explained how the long-held understanding of birthright citizenship dates back to the English crown.
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026
Zuckerberg earlier published a shorter version of the essay as an opinion column in The Wall Street Journal and previewed some of his arguments in several media interviews, including one in the Journal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
“She is yonder, by the river’s edge,” replied Magic, a little too flowery in my opinion.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
However, as a student of market bubbles and economic cycles, Rizzo has opinions on the comparison that can be drawn with the current AI bonanza.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026
He is gathering the opinions of visitors to the mill this summer to make a case to the council.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
To your point about the length of opinions, I want to add the shrinking number of opinions, right?
From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2026
Companies have had mixed opinions about the ingredient regulatory effort, since some have pushed Congress to pass rules that could pre-empt a patchwork of state laws.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Just as often, however, Adams also used the correspondence to unburden himself of opinions that his muzzled status in the Senate prevented him from sharing publicly.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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.
