Extrapolate: meaning, example and synonyms
Extrapolatev. To estimate an unknown value or outcome by extending known data or trends.
Example
Using a century of rainfall records, the hydrologists extrapolated how often the reservoir might run dry if current trends continued.
- Part of speech
- verb
- Synonyms
- project, infer, extend, deduce
- Antonyms
- –
- Memory tip
- extra (beyond) + polate: extend the line past the known points.
Extrapolate is in batch 7. Study it with the rest of the batch, then pass the batch quiz to learn it. No account needed; progress is saved on this device.
Check yourself: Extrapolate in context
By plotting a century of temperature records, the climatologists were able to ______ likely conditions for the coming decades, though projections grow less reliable the farther they extend.
Answer: extrapolate. Extending past records to estimate future conditions is extrapolating. Vacate, convene and vacillate don't mean to project from data.
Critics argued that the economist had ______ too boldly from a single quarter of growth, predicting a decade of prosperity on the basis of three months of data.
Answer: extrapolated. Predicting ten years from three months of data is extending a trend too far. Augmented, vacated and convened don't describe projecting from data.