Conjecture: meaning, example and synonyms
Conjecturen. An opinion or conclusion formed from incomplete information; a guess.
Example
Because no written records survive, the claim that the tower served as an observatory remains conjecture rather than established fact.
- Part of speech
- noun
- Synonyms
- speculation, guess, supposition, hypothesis
- Antonyms
- fact, certainty, proof, knowledge
- Memory tip
- con- ("together") + ject ("throw"): throwing clues together into a guess.
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Check yourself: Conjecture in context
With only a few pottery shards to go on, any claim about the size of the ancient settlement is largely ______.
Answer: conjecture. A claim built on a handful of shards rests on incomplete information, so it is mostly a guess. Efficacy (effectiveness), an eclipse and a buttress (a support) don't describe an uncertain claim.
The biographer was careful to separate documented events from ______, flagging every passage in which she had to guess at the poet's motives.
Answer: conjecture. The passage contrasts documented events with guesses about motives; a conclusion formed from incomplete information is conjecture. The other nouns don't contrast with documented fact.