conjecturecon‧jec‧ture1 /kənˈdʒektʃə $ -ər/ noun formal 
What she said was pure conjecture. There has been some conjecture about a possible merger.2[countable] an idea or opinion formed by guessing SYN guess, hypothesis: My results show that this conjecture was, in fact, correct.—conjectural adjective
WORD ORIGINconjecture1
Origin:
1300-1400 Latin conjectura, from conicere ‘to throw together’, from com- ( ➔ COM-) + jacere ‘to throw’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- It's a matter for conjecture who wrote the original text in the fifteenth century.
- Jackson's political plans have been the subject of conjecture since he moved to Washington.
- The judge dismissed the evidence as pure conjecture.
- Any prediction about the bond markets, of course, is part conjecture.
- If Cantor decided to wear it, his tumorigenesis theory would become just another discarded conjecture in the cancer field.
- In the author's view the Lucas supply function comprises an arbitrarily concocted mishmash of conjectures and suppositions.
- Initially this was scoffed at as farfetched conjecture, but gradually it has received grudging respect and empirical support.
- It is a mistake to regard the falsification of bold, highly falsifiable conjectures as the occasions of significant advance in science.
- Significant advances will be marked by the confirmation of bold conjectures or the falsification of cautious conjectures.
- The unknown is always the most fearsome, opening out into wide areas of conjecture.
- You get the sense that, no matter what the outcome, everyone suffers from this kind of racial conjecture.
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.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY What she said was pure conjecture.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
1[uncountable] when you form ideas or opinions without having very much information to base them on: What she said was pure conjecture. (=something people discuss and wonder about)· His future had become a matter for speculation.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE· It is pure conjecture on their part.
What she said was pure conjecture. There has been some conjecture about a possible merger.2[countable] an idea or opinion formed by guessing SYN guess, hypothesis: My results show that this conjecture was, in fact, correct.—conjectural adjective