surmise means thought, imagination, or conjecture, which may be based upon feeble or scanty evidence; suspicion; guess. Lexicurio rates it Distinctive — a strength score of 69 out of 100.
surmise is pronounced /sɜːˈmaɪz/.
Etymology
From Old French surmis, past participle of surmetre, surmettre (“to accuse”), from sur- (“upon”) + metre (“to put”).
noun
- Thought, imagination, or conjecture, which may be based upon feeble or scanty evidence; suspicion; guess.“surmises of jealousy or of envy”
- Reflection; thought; posit.“My Thought, whoſe Murther yet is but fantaſticall, / Shakes ſo my ſingle ſtate of Man, / That Function is ſmother'd in ſurmiſe, / And nothing is, but what is not.”
verb
- To imagine or suspect; to conjecture; to posit with contestable premises.“If, as I surmise, you see the ladies this evening, you might mention my intended visit.”