CONJECTURE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does conjecture mean? 

• CONJECTURE (noun)
  The noun CONJECTURE has 3 senses:

1. a hypothesis that has been formed by speculating or conjecturing (usually with little hard evidence)

2. a message expressing an opinion based on incomplete evidence

3. reasoning that involves the formation of conclusions from incomplete evidence

  Familiarity information: CONJECTURE used as a noun is uncommon.

• CONJECTURE (verb)
  The verb CONJECTURE has 1 sense:

1. to believe especially on uncertain or tentative grounds

  Familiarity information: CONJECTURE used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CONJECTURE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A hypothesis that has been formed by speculating or conjecturing (usually with little hard evidence)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

conjecture; speculation

Context example:

he dismissed it as mere conjecture

Hypernyms ("conjecture" is a kind of...):

hypothesis; possibility; theory (a tentative insight into the natural world; a concept that is not yet verified but that if true would explain certain facts or phenomena)

Derivation:

conjectural (based primarily on surmise rather than adequate evidence)

conjecture (to believe especially on uncertain or tentative grounds)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A message expressing an opinion based on incomplete evidence

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

conjecture; guess; hypothesis; speculation; supposition; surmisal; surmise

Hypernyms ("conjecture" is a kind of...):

opinion; view (a message expressing a belief about something; the expression of a belief that is held with confidence but not substantiated by positive knowledge or proof)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "conjecture"):

divination (successful conjecture by unusual insight or good luck)

Derivation:

conjectural (based primarily on surmise rather than adequate evidence)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Reasoning that involves the formation of conclusions from incomplete evidence

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("conjecture" is a kind of...):

abstract thought; logical thinking; reasoning (thinking that is coherent and logical)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "conjecture"):

theorisation; theorization (the production or use of theories)

supposal; supposition (the cognitive process of supposing)

Derivation:

conjectural (based primarily on surmise rather than adequate evidence)

conjecture (to believe especially on uncertain or tentative grounds)

• CONJECTURE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they conjecture    ... he / she / it conjectures   
Past simple: conjectured   
Past participle: conjectured   
-ing form: conjecturing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

To believe especially on uncertain or tentative grounds

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

conjecture; hypothecate; hypothesise; hypothesize; speculate; suppose; theorise; theorize

Context example:

Scientists supposed that large dinosaurs lived in swamps

Hypernyms (to "conjecture" is one way to...):

anticipate; expect (regard something as probable or likely)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "conjecture"):

construct; reconstruct; retrace (reassemble mentally)

develop; explicate; formulate (elaborate, as of theories and hypotheses)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sentence example:

They conjecture that there was a traffic accident

Derivation:

conjecture (reasoning that involves the formation of conclusions from incomplete evidence)

conjecture (a hypothesis that has been formed by speculating or conjecturing (usually with little hard evidence))

 Context examples 

His errand you may probably conjecture.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture became a certainty.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He soon conjectured, by my countenance, that I was a European, and therefore repeated his majesty’s commands in Low Dutch, which he spoke perfectly well.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Ten to one but he guesses the reason, and that is exactly what I want to avoid, so I shall insist on his keeping his conjecture to himself.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Well, if our conjecture is correct and the girl’s name is or was Sophy Kratides, we should have no difficulty in tracing her.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Conjecture—aye, sometimes one conjectures right, and sometimes one conjectures wrong.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Why this is true has been the subject of conjecture in the medical community.

(Mildly Obese Fare Better after Major Heart Attack, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The rest of the evening was spent in conjecturing how soon he would return Mr. Bennet's visit, and determining when they should ask him to dinner.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

From this I rightly conjectured that no improvement had taken place since my last visit in the state of Mrs. Gummidge's spirits.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Along the base of these red cliffs, some distance above the ground, I could see a number of dark holes through the glass, which I conjectured to be the mouths of caves.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)