guesswork

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noun

An estimate, judgment or opinion made by guessing, from limited information.

Similar
conjectureguessguessingshotdead reckoning
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Meanings

nounguesswork (countable and uncountable, plural guessworks)

plural guessworks · alternative guess-work

  1. countableuncountableAn estimate, judgment or opinion made by guessing, from limited information.

    By a careful study of the figure we might suspect that when the rectangle becomes a square its area would be the greatest, but this would at best be mere guesswork. A better way would evidently be to plot the graph of the function (1) and note its behavior.

    1911, William Anthony Granville, Elements of the Differential and Integral Calculus

    Synonyms: conjecture

Synonyms & antonyms

nounAn estimate, judgment or opinion made by guessing, from limited information.

Similar
conjecture

More synonyms by meaning

nounan estimate based on little or no information

Similar
guessguessingshotdead reckoning
Broader
estimateestimationapproximation
Also see
dead reckoningguessguessingshot

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

From guess + work. Compare Dutch giswerk (“guesswork”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan conjectures
  • conjecturesestimate, judgment or opinion
Chinese Mandarin 猜測 /猜测, 推測 /推测
  • 猜測 /猜测 (cāicè)estimate, judgment or opinion
  • 推測 /推测 (tuīcè)estimate, judgment or opinion
Dutch giswerk
  • giswerkestimate, judgment or opinion
Estonian mõistatamine, oletus
  • mõistatamineestimate, judgment or opinion
  • oletusestimate, judgment or opinion
Finnish arvailu, arvaus
  • arvailuestimate, judgment or opinion
  • arvausestimate, judgment or opinion
French extrapolation
  • extrapolationestimate, judgment or opinion
German Mutmaßung, Vermutung
  • Mutmaßungestimate, judgment or opinion
  • Vermutungestimate, judgment or opinion
  • Ratereiestimate, judgment or opinion
  • Rätselratenestimate, judgment or opinion
Greek εικασία, υπολογισμός
  • εικασία (eikasía)estimate, judgment or opinion
  • υπολογισμός (ypologismós)estimate, judgment or opinion
  • κρίση (krísi)estimate, judgment or opinion
  • γνώμη (gnómi)estimate, judgment or opinion
Hungarian találgatás, tippelés
  • találgatásestimate, judgment or opinion
  • tippelésestimate, judgment or opinion
Italian supposizione, congettura
  • supposizioneestimate, judgment or opinion
  • congetturaestimate, judgment or opinion
  • ipotesiestimate, judgment or opinion
Japanese 当て推量
  • 当て推量 (atezuiryou)estimate, judgment or opinion
Polish domysł, przypuszczenie
  • domysłestimate, judgment or opinion
  • przypuszczenieestimate, judgment or opinion
Portuguese conjeturas, suposições
  • conjeturasestimate, judgment or opinion
  • suposiçõesestimate, judgment or opinion
  • achismoestimate, judgment or opinion
Russian до́мысел
  • до́мысел (dómysel)estimate, judgment or opinion
Spanish adivinanza, conjeturas
  • adivinanzaestimate, judgment or opinion
  • conjeturasestimate, judgment or opinion
  • suposicionesestimate, judgment or opinion
Swedish gissning
  • gissningestimate, judgment or opinion
Cite this entry
APA

guesswork. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/guesswork

MLA

“guesswork.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/guesswork. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “guesswork,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/guesswork.

Source: guesswork on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.