How to Use speculate in a Sentence

speculate

verb
  • He speculated as to whether she would come.
  • We don't know what happened—we can only speculate.
  • She could only speculate about her friend's motives.
  • Both of us don't want to speculate about where this heads.
    — Aidan McLaughlin, Vanity Fair, 23 June 2026
  • Some people speculate that the brown rat saved us from the plague.
    — Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic, 26 Apr. 2021
  • Feel free to speculate wildly, of course.
    — Tony Maglio, HollywoodReporter, 24 Sep. 2025
  • Some users even speculated that the spiral could be the work of aliens!
    — Robert Lea, Space.com, 25 Mar. 2025
  • Miley didn’t want to speculate on a time frame for his return.
    — Meghan Montemurro, chicagotribune.com, 3 Apr. 2022
  • Don’t attempt to guess or speculate about the cause of a crisis.
    — Edward Segal, Forbes, 25 June 2021
  • To speculate on that would be science fiction—fun, but not very meaty.
    — Paul Sutter, Ars Technica, 27 Mar. 2023
  • Investors started to speculate the whole thing might be a scam.
    — Joel Khalili, WIRED, 15 Apr. 2024
  • Others speculated that the song may have roots in the band’s past live sets.
    — Mitchell Peters, Billboard, 13 Sep. 2025
  • For now, fans will just have to keep speculating on who gets the role of a lifetime.
    — James Brizuela, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Aug. 2025
  • So, some speculate this might just be William falling in line.
    — Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 9 June 2026
  • In the comments, fans were quick to speculate about the costume choice.
    — Caché McClay, USA Today, 26 Sep. 2025
  • Let’s break this into groups and speculate on some paydays!
    — Zach Harper, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025
  • Many have speculated over the meaning of the pieces and how many there will be in total.
    — Raven Brunner, Peoplemag, 12 Aug. 2024
  • There is not one proper way to invest and speculate in the markets.
    — Todd Gordon, CNBC, 22 July 2025
  • Others speculate that the prices may have to do with the event being free to attend.
    — Sophie Lindberg, Kansas City Star, 10 June 2026
  • At one point it was speculated to involve time travel, but sources say that is not the case.
    — Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Nov. 2024
  • There are some who will speculate that he got spooked by the mention of his existence.
    — Sean Joseph Outkick, FOXNews.com, 20 Apr. 2026
  • Riches speculated that there might have been an open case of elder abuse.
    — Richard Ruelas, USA Today, 17 Feb. 2026
  • Investors can only speculate about what might happen through the end of the year.
    — New York Times, 13 July 2022
  • That’s a pretty long time, which has led people to speculate the two have broken up.
    — Lissete Lanuza Sáenz, StyleCaster, 11 Dec. 2024
  • Fans have spent the past few months feverishly speculating about who the band will hire.
    — Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 22 May 2026
  • The two have been speculated to fight at some point during the summer.
    — Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 17 Apr. 2026
  • His fans were not as hesitant to speculate.
    — Antonio Ferme, Variety, 22 May 2026
  • Pistorino did not want to speculate on the cause of the collapse.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 26 June 2021
  • The selfie caused fans to speculate that the pair had gotten engaged.
    — Christopher Edwards, PEOPLE, 27 Apr. 2026
  • The selfie caused fans to speculate that the pair had gotten engaged.
    — Colson Thayer, PEOPLE, 12 May 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'speculate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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