speculate
verb/ˈspekjuleɪt/
/ˈspekjuleɪt/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they speculate | /ˈspekjuleɪt/ /ˈspekjuleɪt/ |
| he / she / it speculates | /ˈspekjuleɪts/ /ˈspekjuleɪts/ |
| past simple speculated | /ˈspekjuleɪtɪd/ /ˈspekjuleɪtɪd/ |
| past participle speculated | /ˈspekjuleɪtɪd/ /ˈspekjuleɪtɪd/ |
| -ing form speculating | /ˈspekjuleɪtɪŋ/ /ˈspekjuleɪtɪŋ/ |
- [intransitive, transitive] to form an opinion about something without knowing all the details or facts
- speculate (about/on/as to something) We all speculated about the reasons for her resignation.
- They were all speculating as to the identity of the stranger.
- speculate why, how, etc… It is useless to speculate why he did it.
- speculate that… We can speculate that the stone circles were used in some sort of pagan ceremony.
Express Yourself SpeculatingSpeculatingIn some exams, you have to talk about what you can see in a picture and speculate about the situation or a wider issue prompted by the picture. These are ways of saying what you think might be the case:- I think it's likely that these people know each other.
- I imagine she's his wife.
- They might be related.
- They could be friends or work colleagues.
- I would guess they've been waiting for some time.
- I guess that the car has broken down.
- I think this has probably happened before.
- It looks to me as though the woman is very angry.
- Perhaps there has been an accident.
- It may be that they're waiting for someone.
Extra ExamplesTopics Opinion and argumentb2, Doubt, guessing and certaintyb2- Commentators are openly speculating on whether the accusation is false.
- He refused to speculate on her reasons for leaving.
- It is idle to speculate what the consequences would have been.
- It would be premature to speculate as to the outcome at this stage.
- The British press speculated wildly about his disappearance.
- There was no point in speculating about the possibility of them getting back together.
- We can only speculate as to this man's identity.
- Everyone speculated wildly about the reasons for her resignation.
- I'm not going to speculate on her reasons for leaving.
- It's interesting to speculate whether they really did believe in witchcraft.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- openly
- publicly
- widely
- …
- can only
- be free to
- feel free to
- …
- about
- as to
- on
- …
- [intransitive] speculate (in/on something) to buy goods, property, shares, etc., hoping to make a profit when you sell them, but with the risk of losing money
- He likes to speculate on the stock market.
Word Originlate 16th cent.: from Latin speculat- ‘observed from a vantage point’, from the verb speculari, from specula ‘watchtower’, from specere ‘to look’.
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speculate