surmise
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
-
a matter of conjecture.
-
an idea or thought of something as being possible or likely.
-
a conjecture or opinion.
verb
noun
Synonym Usage
See guess.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
surmisesimple
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surmisessimple
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have surmisedperfect
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has surmisedperfect
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am surmisingprogressive
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are surmisingprogressive
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is surmisingprogressive
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have been surmisingperfect progressive
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has been surmisingperfect progressive
Past
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surmisedsimple
-
had surmisedperfect
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was surmisingprogressive
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were surmisingprogressive
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had been surmisingperfect progressive
Future
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”
Explanation
If you see empty ice cream containers on the table, sprinkles littering the ground, and a can of whipped cream in the trash, you can surmise what happened: someone made sundaes. To surmise is to form an opinion or make a guess about something. If you surmise that something is true, you don't have much evidence or knowledge about it. Near synonyms are guess, conjecture, and suppose. You might say, "I can't even surmise what he would do in such a situation." Surmise came to English from the French surmettre, "to accuse," which is formed from the prefix sur-, "on, upon," plus mettre, "to put" (from Latin mittere, "to send").
Vocabulary lists containing surmise
The Great Gatsby
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Grade 10, List 2
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Send a Message: Mit and Miss
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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:
But as anyone who has seen her in “Parks and Recreation” or other roles would surmise, Plaza says, “I have cat-like tendencies and relate more to cats.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 20, 2026
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 ● Nov. 9, 2025
Shoehorning these random digressions into the film without any additional context to surmise their meaning just feels like Perkins is doing weird for weirdness’ sake.
From Salon ● Feb. 21, 2025
As my colleague Paul Roberts reported, experts in the retail sector surmise that North Face’s decision was a consequence of local challenges and the larger problems in the outdoor clothing sector.
From Seattle Times ● May 24, 2024
We have now passed into the Bistritza; and if we are wrong in our surmise our chance is gone.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
Evans surmises the fish that survived were in an area of the creek where less charred material and sediment were swept in.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026
Brand surmises that the Dutch collaborator Seyffardt acquired the painting at the 1940 auction and it was then passed down throughout the generations.
From Barron's ● May 11, 2026
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 ● Dec. 4, 2025
She surmises that the aim was "to connect people and bring them to Kpop".
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2025
It was easy to make my further arrangements; for I was troubled with no inquiries—no surmises.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
For example, while I often asked for help with French administrative tasks, the bot never surmised that I lived in Paris.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 11, 2026
Slemrod surmised that by 2030, the number of man-first tax returns might be 3 to 4 percentage points lower, or about 85% of heterosexual married couples.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 23, 2026
But the first rule about three-peating is that you do not talk about three-peating, or as third baseman Max Muncy surmised: “The biggest challenge of a three-peat is not treating it like it’s a three-peat.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 23, 2026
Su Tzu-yun, a military expert at Taipei's Institute for National Defense and Security Research, surmised Beijing might be trying to "weaken public support" for Taiwan's plans to increase its defence spending.
From Barron's ● Mar. 9, 2026
“We must be very close to the river,” Polly surmised.
From "Copper Sun" by Sharon M. Draper
We can certainly understand that she’s supposed to come off as ardent and unyielding, even surmising that she’s unsure of how to love anyone else because of how improperly she’s been loved herself.
From Salon ● Nov. 8, 2025
And some were now surmising that we had engineered a vote that would promote women and diminish men, in the process making some kind of statement, though they weren’t clear on exactly what that was.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 18, 2024
I’m fairly confident in saying and surmising that his counsel at the time advised him against it and are probably somewhere saying “told you so.”
From Slate ● Nov. 2, 2023
Engoron, surmising that Trump was referring to his clerk, called the comments a "blatant" violation of the gag order.
From Reuters ● Oct. 25, 2023
But Rosy, surmising by her movement that she contemplated leaving, began to wail plaintively, begging her so hard to tell just one more “lubly story.”
From Blue Robin, the Girl Pioneer by Halsey, Rena I.
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.
