guess

1 of 2

verb

ˈges 

guessed; guessing; guesses

transitive verb

1

: to form an opinion of from little or no evidence

She could only guess what he meant.

2

: believe, suppose

I guess you're right

3

: to arrive at a correct conclusion about by conjecture, chance, or intuition

guess the answer

intransitive verb

: to make a guess

We can only guess at what really happened.

guessable

ˈge-sə-bəl 

adjective

guesser noun

guess

2 of 2

noun

: conjecture, surmise

I don't know how old you are, but I'll venture a guess.

Synonyms

Verb

• assume
• conjecture
• daresay
• imagine
• presume
• speculate
• suppose
• surmise
• suspect
• suspicion [chiefly dialect]

Noun

• conjecture
• shot
• supposition
• surmise

Examples of guess in a Sentence

Verb

Can you guess how many people were there?

He guessed that it would rain today.

It was colder and windier than I had guessed it would be.

She can only guess what he meant.

I had to choose one, and I guessed right.

If you can't think of an answer, guess.

“I just heard why he left her.” “Let me guess—another woman.”

As you might have guessed, her parents are not happy about her decision.

We can only guess at what really happened.

She guessed my age on her first try.

Noun

I'm not sure how old he is, but I'm willing to hazard a guess.

My guess is that he'll change his story when he realizes how much trouble he's in.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

After six rounds the judge accurately guessed the number 89% of the time. —Stephen Ornes, Quanta Magazine, 8 Nov. 2024

Players get six attempts to guess a five-letter word. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2024

Noun

This usually would be a good guess—the mainstream media, especially those who are addicted to social media, tend to be out of touch. —Jay Caspian Kang, The New Yorker, 1 Nov. 2024

What happens after, however, seems to be anyone’s guess. —Kate Lindsay, Vulture, 1 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Verb and Noun

Middle English gessen, perhaps of Scandinavian origin; akin to Norwegian & Swedish gissa to guess, Middle Dutch gissen, gessen, Old Norse geta to get, guess — more at get

First Known Use

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing guess

• another-guess
• anybody's/anyone's guess
• second-guess
• someone's guess is as good as mine
• wild guess

Kids Definition

guess

verb

ˈges

1

: to form an opinion from little or no evidence

2

: to solve correctly by or as if by chance

we guessed the riddle

3

: believe sense 5, suppose

I guess you're right

guess noun

guesser noun