Speculate Meaning
/ˈspɛk.jʊˌleɪt/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo think, meditate or reflect on a subject; to consider, to deliberate or cogitate.
verbTo make an inference based on inconclusive evidence; to surmise or conjecture.
Sentence Examples
I wouldn't want to speculate.
Would you care to speculate?
As to what happened there, one can only speculate.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The expert refused to ____ on the outcome until all data were collected.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It is interesting to ____ about what human life might be like on other planets in the future.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from Latin speculātus, perfect active participle of speculor (“to watch, observe, examine, spy”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from specula (“a watchtower”), ultimately from speciō (“to look at”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"It is remarkable that persons who speculate the most boldly often conform with the most perfect quietude to the external regulations of society."
— 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, chapter 13, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC:
"We can speculate that in many instances the sharks are not feeding on their victims, but only in a few cases can we guess what they are doing."
— 1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 171:
"It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: perhaps out of a desire to escape the gravity of this world or to get a preview of the next; […]."
— 2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36:
"Some preliminary legal arrangements were made, but the scheme proceeded no further, as the various local authorities concerned were unwilling to speculate public funds on what was, even at that date, a will o' the wisp."
— 1951 May, R. K. Kirkland, “The Cavan & Leitrim Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 345:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The expert refused to ____ on the outcome until all data were collected.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It is interesting to ____ about what human life might be like on other planets in the future.