estimate

American  

[es-tuh-meyt, es-tuh-mit, -meyt] / ˈɛs təˌmeɪt, ˈɛs tə mɪt, -ˌmeɪt /

verb (used with object)

estimated, estimating

1. to form an approximate judgment or opinion regarding the worth, amount, size, weight, etc., of; calculate approximately.

   to estimate the cost of a college education.

   Synonyms:

   appraise, evaluate, value, assess, gauge, reckon, count, compute

2. to form an opinion of; judge.

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verb (used without object)

estimated, estimating

1. to make an estimate.

noun

1. an approximate judgment or calculation, as of the value, amount, time, size, or weight of something.

   Synonyms:

   appraisal, calculation, valuation

2. a judgment or opinion, as of the qualities of a person or thing.

3. a statement of the approximate charge for work to be done, submitted by a person or business firm ready to undertake the work.

estimate British  

verb

1. to form an approximate idea of (distance, size, cost, etc); calculate roughly; gauge

2. (tr; may take a clause as object) to form an opinion about; judge

   to estimate one's chances

3. to submit (an approximate price) for (a job) to a prospective client

4. (tr) statistics to assign a value (a point estimate ) or range of values (an interval estimate ) to a parameter of a population on the basis of sampling statistics See estimator

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noun

1. an approximate calculation

2. a statement indicating the likely charge for or cost of certain work

3. a judgment; appraisal; opinion

Other Word Forms

• estimatingly
  adverb
• estimative
  adjective
• estimator
  noun
• preestimate
  noun
• preestimate
  verb (used with object)
• reestimate
  verb (used with object)
• reestimate
  noun
• self-estimate
  noun
• unestimated
  adjective
• well-estimated
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of estimate

First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin aestimātus “valued,” past participle of aestimāre “to value, fix the value of”

Explanation

A rough calculation or appraisal is an estimate. When you hit another baseball through the kitchen window, your parents will get an estimate of the repair costs. And you should estimate being grounded for approximately 3 weeks. An estimate is kind of like a very educated guess. Making an estimate takes good evaluation skills, and usually estimates are pretty close to the actual outcome. If the garage bill is way higher than the estimate they gave you, for example, you have a right to be angry. But if you forgot to factor in rush hour traffic when you estimated the drive from Boston to New York, that's your own fault.

Example Sentences

Measuring that tiny motion provided one estimate of big G.

From Science Daily • May 18, 2026

While the IMF's forecasts are closely watched, the figures are only a prediction, a best estimate, of what will happen in the future.

From BBC • May 18, 2026

Some Big Four firm leaders estimate that AI agents will contribute 20% to 30% of a typical financial audit by 2029, essentially the proportion of the human effort that will be removed.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 18, 2026

Consensus estimate is for a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.4 million privately-owned housing starts, roughly 100,000 fewer than in March.

From Barron's • May 17, 2026

Seton made his estimate in 1929, and it is still widely quoted today.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Related Words

• appraisal
• assessment
• conclusion
• estimation
• evaluation
• guess
• measure
• measurement
• opinion
• projection
• rating
• survey
• valuation