surmise
/sɚˈmaɪz/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.67 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Thought, imagination, or conjecture, which may be based upon feeble or scanty evidence; suspicion; guess.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "surmises of jealousy or of envy"
- "This opinion, however, is merely a surmise, which may or may not be the case."
- "But ſurely no Man whatſoever ought in Justice or good Manners to be charged with Principles he actually diſowns, unleſs his Practices do openly and without the leaſt Room for Doubt, contradict his Profeſſion: Not upon ſmall Surmiſes, or becauſe he has the Miſfortune to have Ill Men ſometimes agree with him in a few general Sentiments."
- "The meeting had been devoid of incident. No word had been said to give me anything to think about, and any surmises I might make were unwarranted. I was intrigued."
- "In short, the chances of the Princes Street terminal's survival seem unsure, though at the moment these views are no more than surmise."
- "My Thought, whoſe Murther yet is but fantaſticall, / Shakes ſo my ſingle ſtate of Man, / That Function is ſmother'd in ſurmiſe, / And nothing is, but what is not."
Etymology
Origin
- Source language: Old French
Word Breakdown
- Root: surmis
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /sɚˈmaɪz/
- British English: /sɜːˈmaɪz/