speculate
Americanverb (used without object)
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speculates,
present (3rd person singular)
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speculated,
past participle, past
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speculating
present participle
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to engage in thought or reflection; meditate (often followed by on, upon, or a clause).
-
to indulge in conjectural thought.
- Synonyms:
- theorize, suppose, surmise, guess, conjecture
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to engage in any business transaction involving considerable risk or the chance of large gains, especially to buy and sell commodities, stocks, etc., in the expectation of a quick or very large profit.
verb
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(when tr, takes a clause as object) to conjecture without knowing the complete facts
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(intr) to buy or sell securities, property, etc, in the hope of deriving capital gains
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(intr) to risk loss for the possibility of considerable gain
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(intr) rugby to make an emergency forward kick of the ball without taking any particular aim
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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overspeculateverb (used without object)
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prespeculateverb (used without object)
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unspeculatingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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speculatesimple
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speculatessimple
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have speculatedperfect
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has speculatedperfect
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am speculatingprogressive
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are speculatingprogressive
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is speculatingprogressive
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have been speculatingperfect progressive
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has been speculatingperfect progressive
Past
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speculatedsimple
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had speculatedperfect
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was speculatingprogressive
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were speculatingprogressive
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had been speculatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of speculate
First recorded in 1590–1600; from Latin speculātus “watched over,” past participle of speculārī “to watch over, explore, reconnoiter,” verb derivative of specula “watchtower,” noun derivative of specere “to look, regard, see”
Explanation
When you speculate, you use what you know to make a prediction about an outcome, like when you speculate that the injury of two key players will prevent your favorite team from going far in the playoffs this year. The verb speculate has a specialized meaning in the world of finance — it means to take a financial risk in the hopes of monetary gain. For example, a business owner may speculate that a brand-new kind of frozen yogurt will be really popular, so she buys a huge order of it for her ice cream store. Someone who speculates goes looking for the next big thing, as seen in the word's Latin origin, speculatus, meaning "to spy out, examine."
Vocabulary lists containing speculate
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Common Senses: Spec, Spect, Spic ("Look")
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The Secret Life of Bees
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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:
Berlin has so far refused to speculate on the motives or identity of those responsible for the incident at Leipzig.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
The researchers speculate that the signal could come from a "stream" of material released by the star's core while the black hole's immense gravity was tearing it apart.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026
However, he added it was "too early to speculate on the full findings".
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Kalshi has led the surging popularity of prediction markets in the U.S., allowing users to speculate on things ranging from sports and major events to flight cancellations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
And—like it was something fun to speculate about.
From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
The author speculates that Hobsbawm “probably would have accepted either offer,” but finds no evidence of any approaches.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Presented with a detailed list of this article’s findings, Rachel Cauley, the OMB’s communications director, asserted that “this story is false because it speculates about policies that have not yet been decided.”
From Salon ● Apr. 29, 2026
News coverage speculates about a "new tone" from the president.
From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2026
"It's possible this could explain the higher prevalence of autoimmune diseases in women," Cao speculates.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 28, 2026
Berkner speculates that this is what happened to the great reptiles; their size may have been all right for a richly oxygenated atmosphere, but they had the bad luck to run out of air.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
Detractors responded in turn, worrying that Grande’s ardent fans were enabling the singer’s unhealthy behavior and speculated eating disorder.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026
Analysts speculated that the customer may be either the U.S.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
The alert comes amid what investors speculated could be a coordinated international effort to strengthen the Japanese yen against the dollar, in which Japanese authorities have also taken part.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
The Times speculated that the creation of FFE could have an impact on the World Cup and the Club World Cup.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
But although he speculated that the atom was mostly empty space rather than a homogenous mass speckled with charged nuggets, he had not yet conceived an alternative model.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Schnoebelen said that while the speculating on the origins of the statue is all conjecture at this point, she does enjoy the attention the statue has brought to this particular period of art.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
One is speculating in public about a woman’s health.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Intrigued by the vague mixture of menace and nostalgia that the image evoked, internet users began sharing stories and speculating that the Backrooms is a hidden dimension into which people might accidentally find themselves.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026
"At this time, we have very limited information and ask that everyone respect the privacy of Kaylee's family and refrain from sharing or speculating about the circumstances surrounding the accident."
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
We waited, the more senior officers speculating about what was up.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
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.
