speculativespec‧u‧la‧tive /ˈspekjələtɪv $ -leɪ-/ adjective 
a purely speculative theory about life on other planets2bought or done in the hope of making a profit later: speculative investments3if you give someone a speculative look, you look at them while trying to guess something about them—speculatively adverb: Delaney eyed her speculatively.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- speculative stocks
- Descriptions of how this ancient tribe lived are speculative at best.
- The papers were full of talk of Lucan's whereabouts, all of it entirely speculative.
- Theories of the origin of life are partly speculative.
- Until further research has been done, any figures that I can give you are highly speculative.
- Again, this line of reasoning is purely speculative.
- Almost any palaeontological reconstruction or interpretation is speculative, but that does not mean that no speculation is either rewarding or illuminating.
- Contemporaries distrusted them in the belief that they brought an unsavoury speculative element to the market in stocks.
- For example, the impact of electricity privatisation is speculative.
- Personal opinion or preferences and speculative imaginings have no place in science.
- There does, however, appear to be very little evidence to directly support such theories which thus remain largely speculative.
- Until I saw this move I suspected that Kasparov's attack might be somewhat speculative.
Longman Language Activatoran attempt to guess something
an attempt to guess something: · This is only a guess, but I think Barbara might have gone to Jan's house.· I didn't really know the answer. It was just a lucky guess.make a guess: · I'm not sure why she left him, but I think I can make a guess.good guess spoken (=say this when someone's guess is almost correct): · "When was the house built - about 1600?" "That's a good guess - it was 1624."I'll give you two/three guesses spoken (=say this when you think the other person already knows the answer to the question): · "Who's her new boyfriend then?" "I'll give you three guesses!''an educated guess: · "Did Cindy tell you that she's sold the business?" "No, it was just an educated guess."
an opinion about the value, size, speed etc of something that is formed partly by calculating and partly by guessing: · According to some estimates, almost two thirds of the city has been destroyed by the earthquake.rough estimate (=an estimate that is not intended to be exact): · These are the figures, but they're only a rough estimate.at/as a rough estimate (=making a rough estimate): · At a rough estimate, staff are recycling less than a quarter of the paper we buy.a conservative estimate (=an estimate that is deliberately low): · We're predicting a 10% rise in oil prices -- and that's a conservative estimate.
when you try to understand something or find the answer to something by guessing, because you do not have all the information you need: · It's important to find out what consumers want to buy, rather than relying on guesswork.· At the beginning, the police investigation was largely based on guesswork.it was pure/sheer guesswork spoken (=use this to say that you found out something by guessing): · "How did you know where she'd gone?" "It was pure guesswork."
when a lot of people, especially in newspapers and on television, try to guess what is happening or what will happen because they do not have much definite information: speculation about: · There has been a lot of speculation about the date of the next election.· The success of the book was heightened by media speculation about who the characters were in real life.speculation that: · A further defeat for the government led to increasing speculation that the Prime Minister would resign.amid speculation (that): · The investigation into the crash continued amid speculation that terrorists had destroyed the plane.wild speculation (=guesses that are not sensible): · the wild speculation that surrounded Princess Diana's deathpure speculation (= guesses that are not sensible based only on guessing, and not on informaion): · Any suggestion of an imminent crash in property prices is pure speculation.
an opinion, explanation etc that is speculative is based on guessing and not on facts: · Theories of the origin of life are partly speculative.highly speculative (=based almost completely on guessing and probably not correct): · Until further research has been done, any figures that I can give you are highly speculative.entirely/purely speculative (=based completely on guessing): · The papers were full of talk of Lucan's whereabouts, all of it entirely speculative.
formal guesses that are based on information that is not complete: a matter for/of conjecture (=something that people can try to guess but cannot know): · It's a matter for conjecture who wrote the original text in the fifteenth century.pure conjecture (=based only on guessing, and not on facts): · The judge dismissed the evidence as pure conjecture.
WORD SETSadmin, nounadministration, nounadministrative, adjectiveadministrator, nounagency, nounagent, nounbalance sheet, nounbazaar, nounbid, nounbid, verbbig business, nounbook value, nounboss, nounbottom line, nounbranch, nouncapacity, nouncapital, nouncapital assets, nouncapital gains, nouncapital goods, nouncapital-intensive, adjectivecapitalist, nouncard, nouncentralize, verbcompetitiveness, nounconsultancy, nouncontract, nouncontract, verbcost-effective, adjectivecoupon, nouncritical path, noundecentralize, verbdeveloper, noundistiller, noundistributor, noundiversify, verbdownsize, verbeconomics, nounenterprise, nounentrepreneur, nounestablishment, nounfashion, nounfly-by-night, adjectivefold, verbfoodstuff, nounform letter, nounfranchise, verbfranchisee, noungazump, verbgearing, noungeneric, adjectiveget, verbhard sell, nounhaute couture, nounhigh season, nounhigh technology, nounhike, nounhike, verbloss, nounlow-tech, adjectivemaximize, verbMD, nounmerchandise, verbmerchandising, nounmerger, nounmiddleman, nounmiller, nounmission statement, nounmom-and-pop, adjectivemoneygrabbing, adjectivemoneymaker, noun-monger, suffixmonopolistic, adjectivemonopoly, nounnet, adjectivenet, verbniche, nounoff-the-peg, adjectiveopening time, nounoperation, nounoperational, adjectiveoperator, nounoption, nounoutlay, nounoutlet, nounoutput, nounoutwork, nounoverhead, nounoverstock, verbpackage, nounpartner, nounpartnership, nounpatent, nounpayola, nounpercentage, nounpiracy, nounpremium, nounprivate practice, nounprivatization, nounprivatize, verbprofitability, nounproprietor, nounproprietress, nounpurchase price, nounpurchasing power, nounquiet, adjectiveR & D, nounrate of return, nounrecall, verbreject, nounrep, nounresearch and development, nounrestrictive practices, nounrevenue, nounsell, verbservice industry, nounsleeping partner, nounspeculate, verbspeculation, nounspeculative, adjectivestreet value, nounsubtotal, nounswap meet, nounsweatshop, nounsyndicate, nounsystems analyst, nountake, nountender, nountie-up, nounTM, transact, verbtransaction, nounturnover, nounundersell, verbuneconomic, adjectiveunit, noununprofitable, adjectivevideo conferencing, nounwatchdog, nounwheeler-dealer, nounwheeling and dealing, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY a purely speculative theory about life on other planetsCOLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB
1based on guessing, not on information or factshighly/purely/largely speculative a purely speculative theory about life on other planets· All three approaches were highly speculative.· Federally insured thrifts that traditionally had limited their investments to home mortgages began bingeing on highly speculative investments.· The savings figure, then, is highly speculative, but it is certainly good publicity for the department.· The programme of explaining characteristics of dominant life-forms in terms simply of survival value is controversial and highly speculative.· This, however, is highly speculative and largely dependent on a perpetual bull market.· Or he may simply be taking a highly speculative position.· Here are the real facts: Crane Holdings was in fact a highly speculative investment which in the event performed very badly.
· There does, however, appear to be very little evidence to directly support such theories which thus remain largely speculative.· At present, further discussion of this question is largely speculative.
· There is a more speculative, perhaps deeper point.· Given the very contemporary nature of this chapter it is, inevitably, more speculative than other sections of the book.· Foundation remains show the ground plan but reconstruction of the superstructure has to be more speculative.
· While there is undoubtedly a demand for more golf courses, it needs to be underlined that many applications are purely speculative.· Again, this line of reasoning is purely speculative.· However, at present these suggestions remain purely speculative.· All discussions of extraterrestrial civilizations therefore have to be purely speculative.
NOUN· Also, such a system would be less vulnerable to speculative attack.· Both the first proposal and the final plan brought speculative attacks on the dollar.
· Thus speculative balances will be held in anticipation of the purchase of non-monetary assets at some future date.· In the meantime, therefore, large speculative balances of money will be held.· This is because of the much smaller role played by speculative balances.· People will be more inclined to hold speculative balances of money in anticipation of a rise in interest rates.
· Mr Mieno is still talking and acting tough because he is intent on bursting the speculative bubbles in shares and property.· There, a sharp rise in interest rates popped the market's speculative bubble.· It has been suggested that such a speculative bubble may have been responsible for the rapid rise in equity prices in 1987.
· This speculative demand can be quite high when the price of securities is considered certain to fall.· These fluctuations in interest rates will cause further uncertainty and further shifts in the speculative demand for money.· As the rate of interest falls, so the speculative demand for money increases.· As the interest rate rises, the speculative demand for money falls and money market equilibrium is eventually restored.· According to Keynesians, the speculative demand for money is highly responsive to changes in interest rates.· The speculative demand can be quite large.· The speculative demand becomes virtually infinite at this minimum rate of interest.
· Large volumes of speculative investments leading to losses for the customer might be thought to imply churning.· These speculative investments were the source of disputes for customers including Procter&.· Here are the real facts: Crane Holdings was in fact a highly speculative investment which in the event performed very badly.· Federally insured thrifts that traditionally had limited their investments to home mortgages began bingeing on highly speculative investments.· Homes became a speculative investment which bubble and burst, leaving thousands without homes or unable to move home.
a purely speculative theory about life on other planets2bought or done in the hope of making a profit later: speculative investments3if you give someone a speculative look, you look at them while trying to guess something about them—speculatively adverb: Delaney eyed her speculatively.