surmise
surmise — verb
- surmisepresent simple I / you / we / they
- surmiseshe / she / it
- surmisedpast simple
- surmising-ing form
1. to form an opinion about something by reasoning from small pieces of evidence, w
to form an opinion about something by reasoning from small pieces of evidence, while accepting that your conclusion may not be correct.
From muddy footprints on the floor, Luca surmised that someone had entered during the night.
surmise + that-clause for guessing from evidence
With no witnesses, detectives could only surmise what had happened to the missing documents.
modal + only surmise — limited evidence
Without seeing the full report, the board could only surmise the reasons for the layoffs.
Based on the symptoms, Dr. Kemi surmised the infection had spread to the patient's lungs.
From the half-eaten meal, Esme surmised her roommate had left in a hurry.
- guess
broader, less formal, used in everyday speech
- conjecture
similar formality, more intellectual or academic tone
- infer
implies more logical reasoning from concrete evidence
- speculate
suggests considering possibilities without commitment to one conclusion
文法句型
surmise + that-clause
surmise + noun phrase
be surmised (passive)
can/could only surmise
用法筆記
Frequently used with a that-clause or in the passive construction 'it is surmised that...'. More formal than 'guess' or 'suppose'. Common in investigative, academic, and formal writing where the speaker wants to signal uncertainty.
常見錯誤
surmise — noun
- surmisesingular
- surmisesplural
1. an opinion or conclusion that you reach when you have only a small amount of inf
an opinion or conclusion that you reach when you have only a small amount of information and are not certain it is right.
The senator's theory was a mere surmise, since he had never visited the country.
nothing more than a surmise — dismissive construction
Newspaper surmises about the CEO's retirement filled the article, but no one knew the truth.
Ravindra's early surmise that the old bridge would collapse turned out to be tragically accurate.
As a scientist, Valentina would rather rely on facts than on a mere surmise.
The police dismissed the story as pure surmise, since no evidence supported it.
- guess
broader, everyday word for an opinion without full knowledge
- conjecture
formal, often used in academic contexts
- speculation
suggests considering possibilities without firm basis
文法句型
a surmise (countable)
pure/mere surmise (uncountable)
surmise + that-clause
用法筆記
Often used in dismissive or cautious contexts with modifiers like 'mere', 'pure', or 'nothing more than'. In uncountable form ('pure surmise') it treats the idea as having no factual basis at all.