Meaning & use
conjecture
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
A conclusion based on incomplete evidence, not proven.
Grammar: Uncountable in general: it is pure conjecture. Countable for a specific idea: a conjecture about the cause.
Patterns
- a conjecture about something
- a matter of conjecture
Their theory about the missing ship is pure conjecture.
Whether the plan will work is a matter of conjecture.
His conjecture about the cause turned out to be correct.
nouncountablemathematics
In mathematics, a statement thought to be true but not yet proved.
Grammar: Countable: a famous conjecture.
Mathematicians worked for centuries on the conjecture.
She published a proof of the old conjecture.
verbtransitive or intransitiveformal
To form an opinion without having enough information.
Grammar: Often followed by that: conjectured that the delay was weather-related.
Patterns
- conjecture that something is true
- conjecture about something
Historians conjecture that the village was abandoned during a drought.
It is pointless to conjecture without facts.
Word forms
| plural | conjectures |
|---|---|
| third person singular | conjectures |
| past tense | conjectured |
| past participle | conjectured |
| -ing form | conjecturing |
Common combinations
- pure conjecture
- The report is pure conjecture.
- a matter of conjecture
- Her motive remains a matter of conjecture.
- open to conjecture
- The cause of the fire is open to conjecture.
- based on conjecture
- His claims are based on conjecture, not evidence.
Synonyms and how they differ
- guess
- Guess is casual and can be random, while conjecture implies some reasoning from partial evidence.
- speculation
- Speculation can be more wide-ranging and idle than conjecture.
- hypothesis
- A hypothesis is a testable idea within science, more structured than a conjecture.
Opposites
Word family
- conjectural adjective
- based on guesswork
- conjecturally adverb
- by guessing from partial evidence
Commonly confused: conjecture or conjuncture?
conjecture vs conjuncture
A conjuncture is a combination of events or circumstances, not a guess.
Practice
The detective said his theory was ___, since he had no proof yet.
Choose one answer.
Conjecture means an unproven conclusion. Evidence, verdict, and testimony would all imply support he does not have.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “conjecture”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.