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
-
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:
There is no doubt that many traders speculate on sports prediction markets, just as they speculate on sportsbooks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026
Nicklin also urged the press and public not to speculate about the man's identity.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026
But using such ETFs as trading tools to speculate that stocks will climb can be extremely painful if they tumble instead.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 23, 2026
The motive remains unknown and authorities have refused to speculate while the investigation takes place.
From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2026
China then ceased to be innovative for reasons about which we shall speculate in the Epilogue.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
"Our current findings suggest that in stress-associated psychiatric disorders such as depression, the CRH system in OPCs may play a greater role than previously known," Deussing speculates.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026
She speculates that its harsh reception may have to some degree gratified its author who, after all, “did mean to write a savage, cruel, and gloomy novel.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
News coverage speculates about a "new tone" from the president.
From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2026
A raid to seize the enriched uranium, in what Kavanagh speculates is an attempt to “embarrass” Iran into submission, the operation would face a slew of problems.
From Salon ● Apr. 3, 2026
Sleight speculates that Ruess inscribed this Nemo not long after departing Davis Gulch.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
“I’d hate to see NFTs…just be talked about as monkey photos that people speculated on that went bust.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
McAfee and company speculated that the former president was Barack Obama, but Nantz did not reveal his identity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026
If Holmes was indeed playing a character she made up, as many people speculated, she was a skilled method actor.
From Salon ● Oct. 17, 2026
Investors and banking industry executives have privately speculated the bank could be poised to acquire a smaller lender.
From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026
In Italy, Galileo had announced other worlds, and Giordano Bruno had speculated on other lifeforms.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
As the Autumn Budget looms, the papers are in full swing speculating what Chancellor John Healey will hand down on Wednesday.
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026
Wall Street had been speculating whether Meta would begin leasing out its data-center capacity as a way of monetizing its AI infrastructure in a highly profitable manner.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026
Viewers found this endearing, speculating that the robot was “bashful” or suffering from social anxiety.
From Slate ● Sep. 27, 2026
The results “looked quite believable,” he said, speculating that many of the images that have gone viral on social media may have been produced using older models.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
Lance and the anchorman got all revved up speculating how the sting must have netted a couple big local players—guys with enough power to keep the names locked down tight.
From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
