Word of the Day

: April 7, 2024

conjecture

verb kun-JEK-cher

What It Means

Conjecture is a formal synonym of the verb guess that means “to form an opinion or idea without proof or sufficient evidence.”

// Some scientists have conjectured that Jupiter’s moon Europa could sustain life.

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conjecture in Context

“In the week since the news of the thefts broke, the case has been the subject of heated speculation in the British news media, with daily articles conjecturing over how many artifacts had been lost, and who was responsible.” — Alex Marshall, The New York Times, 22 Aug. 2023

Did You Know?

Conjecturing—forming an idea or opinion with some amount of guesswork—usually involves more than simply throwing ideas at the wall and seeing what sticks, but that’s the gist, and with good etymological reason: conjecture comes ultimately from the Latin verb conicere, which means, literally, “to throw together.” To conjecture is to make an educated guess rather than a stab in the dark; it involves piecing together bits of information to come to a plausible conclusion, as in “scientists conjecturing about the cause of the disease.” As such, conjecture tends to show up in formal contexts rather than informal ones, though we reckon one could conjecture if their spaghetti is perfectly cooked based on the amount of time it has been boiling, and on what has worked in the past. (Nota bene: throwing it at the wall doesn’t work!)