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View synonyms for guess

guess

[ ges ]

verb (used with object)

  1. to arrive at or commit oneself to an opinion about (something) without having sufficient evidence to support the opinion fully:

    to guess a person's weight.

    Synonyms: hazard

  2. to estimate or conjecture about correctly:

    to guess what a word means.

  3. to think, believe, or suppose:

    I guess I can get there in time.

    Synonyms: imagine, fancy

    Antonyms: know



verb (used without object)

  1. to form an estimate or conjecture (often followed by at or about ):

    We guessed at the weight of the package.

  2. to estimate or conjecture correctly.

noun

  1. an opinion that one reaches or to which one commits oneself on the basis of probability alone or in the absence of any evidence whatever.

    Synonyms: supposition

  2. the act of forming such an opinion:

    to take a guess at someone's weight.

guess

/ ɡɛs /

verb

  1. whenintr, often foll by at or about to form or express an uncertain estimate or conclusion (about something), based on insufficient information

    guess what we're having for dinner

  2. to arrive at a correct estimate of (something) by guessing

    he guessed my age

  3. informal.
    to believe, think, or suppose (something)

    I guess I'll go now

  4. keep a person guessing
    keep a person guessing to let a person remain in a state of uncertainty


noun

  1. an estimate or conclusion arrived at by guessing

    a bad guess

  2. the act of guessing
  3. anyone's guess
    anyone's guess something difficult to predict

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Derived Forms

  • ˈguessingly, adverb
  • ˈguessable, adjective
  • ˈguesser, noun

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Other Words From

  • guess·a·ble adjective
  • guess·er noun
  • guess·ing·ly adverb
  • pre·guess noun verb
  • un·guess·a·ble adjective
  • un·guessed adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of guess1

First recorded in 1300–50; (for the verb) Middle English gessen, perhaps from Scandinavian; compare Swedish, Danish, Norwegian gissa, Middle Low German gissen, Middle Dutch gessen, Old Norse geta; noun derivative of the verb; get

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Word History and Origins

Origin of guess1

C13: probably of Scandinavian origin; compare Old Swedish gissa, Old Danish gitse, Middle Dutch gissen; see get

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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. by guess and by gosh, Northern U.S. using a combination of guesswork and reliance on luck; hit or miss. Also by guess and by golly.

More idioms and phrases containing guess

see anyone's guess ; educated guess ; have another guess coming ; your guess is as good as mine .

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Synonym Study

Guess, guess at, conjecture, surmise imply attempting to form an opinion as to the probable. To guess is to risk an opinion regarding something one does not know about, or, wholly or partly by chance, to arrive at the correct answer to a question: to guess the outcome of a game. Guess at implies more haphazard or random guessing: to guess at the solution of a crime. To conjecture is to make inferences in the absence of sufficient evidence to establish certainty: to conjecture the circumstances of the crime. Surmise implies making an intuitive conjecture that may or may not be correct: to surmise the motives that led to it.

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Example Sentences

Haha, what a sad thing to be great at, but yeah, I guess I am.

And then I got on a plane, and guess what was playing: I Never Sang for My Father.

As Randy wrote, “I guess this speaks to the church not really having a place for gay people so getting married is still implicit.”

I guess we know how Bacchus kept his title as the god of wine and intoxication.

“I guess it was their first incident where they lose a plane,” said Dobersberger, the travel agent.

Kind of a reception-room in there—guess I know a reception-room from a hole in the wall.

It would be a modest guess that Accadian culture implied a growth of at least ten thousand years.

Since that he has made his almanacs without weatherwise sayings, leaving every man to guess for himself.

Squinty started to go back the way he had come, but I guess you can imagine what happened.

"I guess that is straight enough for Guitar to believe, instead of that upstart lieutenant," said Harry.

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Definitions 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.

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