Meaning & use
speculation
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
Guessing about something without having firm facts to back it up.
Grammar: Often uncountable: there was much speculation; countable when naming individual guesses: wild speculations.
Patterns
- speculation about something
- speculation that clause
There is wide speculation about who will be the next manager.
The rumors were pure speculation and no facts were given.
Speculation grew when the star canceled her tour.
noununcountablefinance
The buying of risky investments in the hope of making quick profit from price changes.
Grammar: Used mostly in finance: speculation in property.
Patterns
- speculation in something
Speculation in housing pushed prices to unreasonable levels.
The bank warned against heavy speculation in crypto assets.
Land speculation was common before the railway came.
Word forms
| plural | speculations |
|---|
Common combinations
- wild speculation
- The headline was based on wild speculation.
- mere speculation
- It is mere speculation until we see the test results.
- fuel speculation
- The sudden meeting fueled speculation about layoffs.
- rampant speculation
- There is rampant speculation about the cause.
- open to speculation
- The reason for his absence is open to speculation.
- speculation about
- There was much speculation about her plans.
Synonyms and how they differ
- conjecture
- Conjecture is more formal and used for a reasoned guess, while speculation can be loose and gossipy.
- guesswork
- Guesswork is plainer and suggests unscientific guessing, where speculation can be thoughtful.
- supposition
- Supposition is a single assumption taken as true, not an ongoing stream of talk.
- rumor
- Rumor is a story passed along as if true, whereas speculation is open about being a guess.
Opposites
Word family
- speculate verb
- to form guesses without proof, or to invest riskily
- speculative adjective
- based on guesses, or risky in finance
- speculator noun
- a person who makes risky investments
- speculatively adverb
- in a guessing way
Commonly confused: speculation or speculum?
speculation vs speculum
A speculum is a medical instrument for looking inside the body, and it is unrelated in meaning.
Practice
Until the official report arrives, anything we say about the cause is just ___.
Choose one answer.
Speculation means guessing without proof. Confirmation and evidence are the opposite, and calculation is working out numbers.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “speculation”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.