Hypothesize

//haɪˈpɒθ.ɪ.saɪz// verb

verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To assume or assert tentatively on uncertain grounds. British, English, Oxford, US, ambitransitive

    "When hormones signal breast cells to divide more rapidly, scientists hypothesize, they increase breast cancer risk by causing precancerous or cancerous cells to multiply."

  2. 2
    to believe especially on uncertain or tentative grounds wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
conjecturespeculatespeculatesupposetheorizeanalyze

Example

More examples

"I can only hypothesize that he came here for the necklace."

Etymology

From hypothesis + -ize.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.