Meaning & use

extrapolate

verb·Academic

To estimate or conclude something unknown by extending known facts, data, or trends.

See it in a sentence

Scientists extrapolated future sea levels based on decades of temperature records.

From the small sample, researchers extrapolated conclusions about the entire population.

A note on using this word

Extrapolate is common in statistics and science, always implying that a conclusion goes beyond the directly observed data.

Words with a similar meaning

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