Meaning & use
hypothesize
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Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitiveformaltechnical
To put forward a possible explanation for something that can then be tested.
Grammar: Often followed by that or about: scientists hypothesized that the virus spread by air.
Patterns
- hypothesize that something
- hypothesize about something
Researchers hypothesized that the drug would lower blood pressure.
The students hypothesized about why the plants wilted.
She hypothesized a link between sleep and memory.
verbtransitive or intransitiveformal
To guess at what might be true, based on little evidence.
Grammar: A looser use outside science, like speculate.
Patterns
- hypothesize about something
Fans hypothesized endlessly about the ending of the show.
I can only hypothesize why he left so suddenly.
Detectives hypothesized that the thief knew the house.
Word forms
| third person singular | hypothesizes |
|---|---|
| past tense | hypothesized |
| past participle | hypothesized |
| -ing form | hypothesizing |
Common combinations
- hypothesize that
- Scientists hypothesize that the moon was formed in a collision.
- hypothesize about
- We can only hypothesize about the cause.
- originally hypothesized
- The effect was originally hypothesized in 1950.
- hypothesize a link
- The team hypothesized a link between diet and mood.
- hypothesize why
- Historians hypothesize why the city was abandoned.
Synonyms and how they differ
- theorize
- It is broader and suggests building a wider explanation, while hypothesize points to a specific testable guess.
- speculate
- It can be a guess with no plan to test it, so it is weaker than hypothesize.
- postulate
- It means to assume something as a starting point for an argument.
- propose
- It means putting an idea forward for consideration, without the scientific testing sense.
Opposites
Word family
- hypothesis noun
- a testable suggested explanation
- hypothetical adjective
- based on an imagined situation
- hypothetically adverb
- in an imagined case
- hypotheses noun
- plural of hypothesis
Commonly confused: hypothesize or hypothecate?
hypothesize vs hypothecate
Hypothecate is a rare financial term for pledging an asset as security, and has no link to testing ideas.
Practice
Before running the experiment, the class had to ___ what would happen when the ice was heated.
Choose one answer.
Hypothesize means to propose an explanation or prediction to be tested. Confirm and conclude come after testing, and ignore does not fit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hypothesize”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.