guess

1 of 2

verb

ˈges How to pronounce guess (audio)
guessed; guessing; guesses
Synonyms of guessnext

transitive verb

1
: to form an opinion of from little or no evidence
She could only guess what he meant.
2
: believe, suppose
I guess you're right
3
: to arrive at a correct conclusion about by conjecture, chance, or intuition
guess the answer

intransitive verb

: to make a guess
We can only guess at what really happened.
guessable
ˈge-sə-bəl How to pronounce guess (audio)
adjective
guesser noun

guess

2 of 2

noun

: conjecture, surmise
I don't know how old you are, but I'll venture a guess.

Synonyms

Verb

Noun

See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of guess in a Sentence

Verb Can you guess how many people were there? He guessed that it would rain today. It was colder and windier than I had guessed it would be.
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Verb
Avoid guessing or making up a story that misrepresents the financial facts. — Bryan Robinson, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2025 Hackman, whose pacemaker activity made his last day alive easier to guess, likely died a week later. — Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News, 7 Mar. 2025
Noun
Today’s average difficulty is 4.2 guesses out of 6, or moderately challenging. — New York Times Games, New York Times, 21 Feb. 2025 My guess is there are teams who would offer him much more than that on July 1. — Murat Ates, The Athletic, 20 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for guess

Word History

Etymology

Verb and Noun

Middle English gessen, perhaps of Scandinavian origin; akin to Norwegian & Swedish gissa to guess, Middle Dutch gissen, gessen, Old Norse geta to get, guess — more at get

First Known Use

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of guess was in the 14th century

Phrases Containing guess

Rhymes for guess

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Browse Nearby Words

guess
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Cite this Entry

“Guess.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/guess. Accessed 11 Mar. 2025.

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Kids Definition

guess

verb
ˈges
1
: to form an opinion from little or no evidence
2
: to solve correctly by or as if by chance
we guessed the riddle
3
: believe sense 5, suppose
I guess you're right
guess noun
guesser noun

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