GUESSING Synonyms: 88 Similar and Opposite Words

guessing 1 of 2

noun

as in speculation

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guessing

2 of 2

verb

present participle of guess

as in assuming

to form an opinion from little or no evidence though she does not speak with an accent, I would still guess that she is a foreigner

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in estimating

to decide the size, amount, number, or distance of (something) without actual measurement I would guess the road goes for about two miles before you have to take a left

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in thinking

to have as an opinion I never would have guessed that she was capable of such a terrible thing

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of guessing

Noun

The dynamic of a tough running game keeps the defense guessing, and that’s really all the Chiefs need to be deadly. — David Troy Outkick, FOXNews.com, 25 Oct. 2026 There’s outward social and internalized pressure on the Dashwood sisters to marry, and do it quickly, but per any Austen tale, the path is blotchy and blocked by obstacles and second-guessing. — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 13 Oct. 2026 There’s no sense of looking over your shoulder or second-guessing. — Joe Lynch, Billboard, 12 Oct. 2026 For Giacchino, the trick to scoring a film filled with so much intrigue is keeping the viewer guessing. — K.j. Yossman, Variety, 10 Oct. 2026 What greatness, what glory, was there in a God who made a universe only to destroy it as part of a 2,000-year-old guessing game? — David Von Drehle, Washington Post, 8 Oct. 2026 MeCore lets people discover products through aesthetics and visual inspiration rather than relying primarily on traditional search and keyword guessing. — Arthur Zaczkiewicz, Footwear News, 6 Oct. 2026 On a team that turned to its bullpen more than any other club in the majors, his pitching decisions were sometimes ripe for second-guessing. — Cody Stavenhagen, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2026 It’s marked by fear, second-guessing, and frustration, all with no guarantee that things will actually get better. — Literary Hub, 17 Sep. 2026

Verb

Sorry to say it, but right now, guessing is what many are doing. — Brian Sullivan, CNBC, 22 Oct. 2026 LaBranche has become a master of sleight of hand and confusing defenses as the Warriors utilize a ton of misdirection and a plethora of running backs to keep the opposition guessing about who is getting the ball. — Steve Millar, Chicago Tribune, 17 Oct. 2026 Despite the cookie-cutter nature of the main plot elements, a few star writers emerged who were able to keep readers guessing. — New York Times, 15 Oct. 2026 Instead of guessing what's normal, users can build a personal baseline, identify patterns—like digestive changes that coincide with certain meals—and share results with their doctors. — Angela Haupt, Time, 15 Oct. 2026 So guessing this effects the poster’s criteria of cloud cover. — Joe Kinsey Outkick, FOXNews.com, 12 Oct. 2026 Rodriguez’s presence over opposing interior offensive lineman on passing downs keeps them guessing. — Pj Green, Kansas City Star, 10 Oct. 2026 Spend less time guessing and more time finding bugs that pay out. — Stackcommerce Team, PC Magazine, 7 Oct. 2026 Booking Holdings’ chief financial officer thinks the companies spending the most on artificial intelligence are guessing. — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for guessing

Noun

Each new release of a frontier AI model, such as Anthropic’s Mythos or OpenAI’s Astra, brings a new wave of speculation over how much closer this takes us to artificial general intelligence (AGI) and how much further that lofty goal remains.

— Noah Giansiracusa, Time, 26 Oct. 2026
Last weekend's loss was ugly enough that speculation started immediately afterward that Sam Darnold might be in danger of losing his starting job to Drew Lock.

— Ian Miller OutKick, FOXNews.com, 26 Oct. 2026

Definition of speculation

Verb

Thinking that writing code was the only bottleneck for deploying new software is like the Titanic seeing the tip of the iceberg and assuming there was nothing underneath it.

— Brian Jenney, IEEE Spectrum, 23 Oct. 2026
Catoir warns against assuming that digital natives will naturally be equipped to work with AI.

— Sam Birchall, Fortune, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of assuming

Verb

Space42 expects new services to require time to build subscriber bases, establish commercial packages, and secure adoption, with Sabbagh estimating this could take one to three years.

— Melissa Hancock, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2026
The unrest culminated in rioting and looting over the weekend, with officials estimating that the damages could be worth hundreds of millions of euros.

— Chloe Taylor, CNBC, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of estimating

Verb

Born in 1888, Jim Casey spent his life, starting at the tender age of eleven, thinking about how to deliver things more efficiently.

— Marc Levinson, Fortune, 25 Oct. 2026
Croix Bethune had been thinking about breaking the National Women’s Soccer League’s single-season record for assists since returning from injury.

— PJ Green, Kansas City Star, 25 Oct. 2026

Definition of thinking

Noun

Pike didn’t always have such a cogent theory of the power of the body in performance.

— Sarah Crompton, Vogue, 21 Oct. 2026
The idea that the absence of private property and systematic inequality automatically removes coercion—which forms the core of the Marxist theory of history—is not proven.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of theory

Verb

Sacramento firefighters have responded to multiple fires along the American River Parkway near Northgate Boulevard over the past week, with investigators suspecting the fires may have been human-caused.

— Kayla Moeller, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026
The family, suspecting Yarludy’s been assaulted by her teacher, accuses both Oscar and the center.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of suspecting

Verb

This is also figuring that Warners unleashes Digger on Premium VOD soon and does a decent number relative to the box office because people are curious.

— Anthony D'Alessandro, Deadline, 4 Oct. 2026
UConn has been figuring it out with 87 new players, many of whom hadn’t seen regular game reps at their prior stop.

— Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant, 3 Oct. 2026

Definition of figuring

Verb

As doors came off their hinges and windows exploded, Resnicoff and others took cover on the floor, believing their building had been hit by a rocket or mortars.

— Beth Bailey, FOXNews.com, 23 Oct. 2026
The smiling, amiable android understands very little about her surroundings, believing that the sun (which recharges her batteries) is a deity that listens to her prayers to be chosen by a human.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2026

Definition of believing

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guesses

guessing

guesstimate

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Style

“Guessing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/guessing. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of guessing

noun

verb

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