When you guess about how something is going to come out (or how it happened), that's speculation. You're making an educated guess.
- Pronunciation: /ˌspekjʊˈleɪʃən/
- English Description: when you guess about the possible causes or effects of something without knowing all the facts, or the guesses that you make
- Chinese Translation: 思索(Si1 Suo3); 推测(Tui1 Ce4);
- Spanish Translation: especulación
- STORY: When people predict who will win a football game, an Oscar, or an election, it's speculation: people are looking at the facts and making their best guess. Just about anything you say about the future is speculation, because no one knows what will happen. The word is used in the stock market for such financial dealings as "buying on spec," a risky way to make money. Sometimes, this word means something close to meditation — pondering something deeply.
EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
- There is speculation that the president is ill.
- The witness's statement was pure speculation.