presume
Americanverb (used with object)
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presumes,
present (3rd person singular)
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presumed,
past participle, past
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presuming
present participle
-
to take for granted, assume, or suppose.
I presume you're tired after your drive.
- Synonyms:
- presuppose
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Law. to assume as true in the absence of proof to the contrary.
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to undertake with unwarrantable boldness.
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to undertake (to do something) without right or permission.
to presume to speak for another.
verb (used without object)
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presumes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
presumed,
past participle, past
-
presuming
present participle
-
to take something for granted; suppose.
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to act or proceed with unwarrantable or impertinent boldness.
- Synonyms:
- overstep
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to go too far in acting unwarrantably or in taking liberties (usually followed by on orupon ).
Do not presume upon his tolerance.
verb
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(when tr, often takes a clause as object) to take (something) for granted; assume
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(when tr, often foll by an infinitive) to take upon oneself (to do something) without warrant or permission; dare
do you presume to copy my work?
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(intr; foll by on or upon) to rely or depend
don't presume on his agreement
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law to take as proved until contrary evidence is produced
Usage
What is the difference between presume and assume? Presume and assume have very similar meanings—they both mean to suppose that something is true without being able to confirm it. Assume, however, usually implies that the conclusion reached by the person doing the assuming is not based on much. Presume, on the other hand, often implies that the conclusion is based on something a bit stronger, such as some evidence or past situations in which the same thing happened. For example, you might presume that someone will be attending a meeting because they always attend and you have no reason to think they won’t be there. The word assume could also be used in this scenario, but it’s most likely to be used in situations in which there was less of a reason to have come to a certain conclusion. For example, you might assume something about someone you’ve just met based only on how they look (which is never a good idea). A good way to remember this difference in how the two words are used is that the prefix pre- in presume means “before”—when you presume things, you’re often basing that presumption on something that has happened before. As for assume, well, we’ll just assume you know a good way of remembering how it’s used. Presume and assume also have a few meanings that don’t overlap. Presume can mean to undertake or do something without permission or justification, as in I don’t presume to speak for the entire class. Assume can mean to take on, adopt, or be endowed with something, as in I don’t want to assume any new responsibilities. Here are examples of presume and assume used correctly in a sentence. Example: I presumed, based on your resume, that you knew how to work with this software. Example: I assumed you knew what you were doing when you volunteered to bake the cake, but apparently I shouldn’t have. Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between presume and assume.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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presumesimple
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presumessimple
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have presumedperfect
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has presumedperfect
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am presumingprogressive
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are presumingprogressive
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is presumingprogressive
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have been presumingperfect progressive
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has been presumingperfect progressive
Past
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presumedsimple
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had presumedperfect
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was presumingprogressive
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were presumingprogressive
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had been presumingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of presume
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English presumen, from Old French presumer, from Latin praesūmere “to take beforehand” (in Late Latin: “to take for granted, assume, dare”), from prae- pre- + sūmere “to take up” ( cf. consume)
Explanation
If you presume something, it means you act as though it's true before all the evidence is in. If you are presumed to be the fastest runner, don't get too cocky — that word implies that you haven't actually raced yet. To presume is to take something for granted. The famous quote “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” comes from the explorer Henry Morton Stanley, who ran into the explorer David Livingstone in the wilds of Africa in 1871. It’s funny because these were the only two white men known to be in that part of Africa at the time.
Vocabulary lists containing presume
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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The Diary of Anne Frank
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Commonly Confused Words, List 1
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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:
It essentially means that judges must presume that the government — whether it be federal prosecutors, an IRS auditor or an FBI agent — did their jobs according to the rules and in good faith.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026
District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín said the combination of the two film studios’ market share of theatrical movies has persuaded the court “that it can presume the proposed merger is likely to violate antitrust laws.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
You are middle-aged and appear to have substantial assets in the form of real estate and, I presume, significant retirement funds.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
"I can only presume it was probably because their road was cut off because they live out in the countryside."
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
Didn’t she presume she would live with her father in Paris for the rest of her life?
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
One presumes he’s smart enough not to take anything for granted.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2026
Hopefully, it’s not as bad as that worst-case scenario presumes.
From MarketWatch ● May 25, 2026
Indexing presumes general market efficiency: The counterparty to an active seller is an active buyer; both are confident, well-staffed and diligent.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026
And that presumes the published NAVs represent current reality; most NAVs are as of Dec. 31, and much has happened since then.
From Barron's ● Feb. 27, 2026
In the same sense that our judicial system presumes us to be innocent until proved guilty, a medical-care system may work best if it starts with the presumption that most people are healthy.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
The address she was given turned out to be a "dingy gross motel", but she says she presumed they would be heading out somewhere else.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
A third U.S. service member in Jordan is missing and presumed dead, and a fourth was killed during the detonation of a downed Iranian drone in Iraq on Saturday.
From Slate ● Jul. 20, 2026
The couple donated a combined $26 million to 20 local and national charities ahead of their presumed nuptials, Swift’s publicist told Business Insider.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026
At the makeshift morgue at La Guaira's port, many are still waiting for the remains of their loved ones who are presumed dead.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
Which is Latin and it means No more things should be presumed to exist than are absolutely necessary.
From "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon
Greenspan, who retired just before disaster struck, acknowledged to Congress in late 2008 that he had "made a mistake" in presuming companies were best positioned to protect themselves and their shareholders without government oversight.
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026
He added that journalists were "presuming I had something I didn't have", but said "I had something far more serious."
From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2026
Videos captured people murmuring confusedly, presuming technical difficulties, before the truth dawned on the crowd that pyrotechnics would not be forthcoming.
From Salon ● Jan. 21, 2026
And that’s presuming you do make it to the Taj Mahal.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 31, 2025
Accounting for Air Days and presuming 90 kilometers of travel per sol, I should arrive on Sol 498.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
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.
