speculation
Americannoun
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speculations
plural
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the contemplation or consideration of some subject.
to engage in speculation on humanity's ultimate destiny.
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a single instance or process of consideration.
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a conclusion or opinion reached by such contemplation.
These speculations are impossible to verify.
- Synonyms:
- hypothesis, theory, view, supposition
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conjectural consideration of a matter; conjecture or surmise.
a report based on speculation rather than facts.
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engagement in business transactions involving considerable risk but offering the chance of large gains, especially trading in commodities, stocks, etc., in the hope of profit from changes in the market price.
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a speculative commercial venture or undertaking.
noun
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the act or an instance of speculating
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a supposition, theory, or opinion arrived at through speculating
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investment involving high risk but also the possibility of high profits
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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antispeculationnoun
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nonspeculationnoun
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overspeculationnoun
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prespeculationnoun
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semispeculationnoun
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of speculation
1325–75; Middle English speculacioun < Late Latin speculātiōn- (stem of speculātiō ) exploration, observation. See speculate, -ion
Explanation
When you guess about how something is going to come out (or how it happened), that's speculation. You're making an educated guess. When people predict who will win a football game, an Oscar, or an election, it's speculation: people are looking at the facts and making their best guess. Just about anything you say about the future is speculation, because no one knows what will happen. The word is used in the stock market for such financial dealings as "buying on spec," a risky way to make money. Sometimes, this word means something close to meditation — pondering something deeply.
Vocabulary lists containing speculation
The Things They Carried
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American History II
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100 SAT words Beginning with "S"
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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:
Any speculation meanwhile was premature, he added, “because we do not yet know the number of roles or specific locations of positions.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
Similar speculation arose after his 2019 European tour, when video appeared to show him walking with a slight limp and using the arms of a chair to steady himself.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026
In Hollywood, there had been much speculation over what jumbled mash-up of the corporate titles would be used, with WarnerMount and Paramount-Warner Bros. often mentioned as possibilities.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
City could face relegation given the sheer scale of the case and there is even speculation that they could be stripped of their titles.
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
Further speculation was curtailed by the appearance of Matthias.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
However, the Iranian embassy in London has said it "categorically rejects and strongly condemns" any "unfounded and malicious speculations" linking Iran to the latest incident.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
Geely said it doesn’t “comment on rumors or speculations regarding potential partnerships.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
According to Page Six, the speculations about the romance caused a “feud” between Batula and Miller, who were particularly close in Season 10 of “Summer House.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2026
The path from these relatively reasonable speculations to nuclear apocalypse is, to say the least, another matter.
From Barron's ● Mar. 2, 2026
Such speculations are no longer useful to me anyway.
From "Insurgent" by Veronica Roth
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.
