Verb
- 1. speculate, theorize, theorise, conjecture, hypothesize, hypothesise, hypothecate, suppose, expect, anticipate
- usage: to believe especially on uncertain or tentative grounds; "Scientists supposed that large dinosaurs lived in swamps"
- 2. speculate, reason
- usage: talk over conjecturally, or review in an idle or casual way and with an element of doubt or without sufficient reason to reach a conclusion; "We were speculating whether the President had to resign after the scandal"
- 3. chew over, think over, meditate, ponder, excogitate, contemplate, muse, reflect, mull, mull over, ruminate, speculate, think, cogitate, cerebrate
- usage: reflect deeply on a subject; "I mulled over the events of the afternoon"; "philosophers have speculated on the question of God for thousands of years"; "The scientist must stop to observe and start to excogitate"
- 4. speculate, job, invest, put, commit, place
- usage: invest at a risk; "I bought this house not because I want to live in it but to sell it later at a good price, so I am speculating"
WordNet 3.0 Copyright © 2006 by Princeton University.
All rights reserved.Definition and meaning of speculate (Dictionary)