surmise

American  

[ser-mahyz, ser-mahyz, sur-mahyz] / sərˈmaɪz, sərˈmaɪz, ˈsɜr maɪz /

verb (used with object)

surmised, surmising

1. to think or infer without certain or strong evidence; conjecture; guess.

   Synonyms:

   suspect, suppose, imagine

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verb (used without object)

surmised, surmising

1. to conjecture or guess.

noun

1. a matter of conjecture.

2. an idea or thought of something as being possible or likely.

3. a conjecture or opinion.

surmise British  

verb

1. (when tr, may take a clause as object) to infer (something) from incomplete or uncertain evidence

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noun

1. an idea inferred from inconclusive evidence

Related Words

See guess.

Other Word Forms

• surmisable adjective
• surmisedly adverb
• surmiser noun
• unsurmised adjective
• unsurmising adjective

Etymology

Origin of surmise

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English surmisen, from Anglo-French surmis(e), Middle French “accused,” past participle of surmettre “to accuse,” from Latin supermittere “to throw upon,” from super super- + mittere “to let go, send”

Example Sentences

"There's lots of good things about these platforms, but there's just too much bad stuff," he surmises.

From BBC

The author surmises that Goebbels discovered this and devised a way to get rid of her—sending Ruth out of Germany while simultaneously helping Japan establish a spy network in Hawaii.

From The Wall Street Journal

A consensus was quickly clear: "Please bring back the previous format," one person surmised on social media.

From BBC

He surmised that "Epstein knew a lot about taxes".

From BBC

But if you showed the average Chicagoan the evidence now in the public domain, most would likely surmise that Mr. Homan took a bribe.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• deduce
• hypothesize
• infer
• opine
• presume
• pretend
• speculate
• theorize