Synonyms for suppose
Synonyms by meaning
Verb
1. Guess
guess US, think, imagine, reckon informal, say informal, presume, suspect, believe, take, take it, consider, opine, regard, judge, infer, deem, conceive, esteem, divine, fancy dated, ween dated
2. Surmise
surmise, conjecture, theorize, theorise UK, postulate, hypothesize UK US, hypothesise UK, hypothetise UK, speculate, posit, hypothecate rare
3. Assume
Other
Definitions
- v. 1
To take for granted; to conclude, with less than absolute supporting data; to believe.
I won't be back before midday, I don't suppose.
- v. 2
To theorize or hypothesize.
Suppose that A implies B and B implies C. Then A implies C.
- v. 3
To imagine; to believe; to receive as true.
Related words
- Word family
- supposable supposal supposedly supposition
- Is a kind of
- deem have opinion
Forms
- Past participle
- supposed
e.g. supposed → guessed, imagined, reckon'd, sayed…
Choose the right word
To suppose is temporarily to assume a thing as true, either with the expectation of finding it so or for the purpose of ascertaining what would follow if it were so.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- consider I do not consider her choice of music a happy one.
- imagine We are never as happy or as unhappy as we imagine.
- suspect Doctors suspect smoking has lot to do with cancer.
- presume Don't presume to tell me how to raise my children!
- conjecture In any case, you are wrong in your conjecture.
- surmise "What do you think of my theory?" "It is all surmise."
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| suppose | rising | |
| consider | steady | |
| imagine | rising | |
| suspect | rising | |
| presume | steady | |
| conjecture | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- say1
- 4 letters
- make1, take1, deem1, ween
- 5 letters
- think1, guess1, judge1, fancy2, imply2, infer2, posit2, opine2
- 6 letters
- assume2, regard2, divine2, esteem2, reckon2
- 7 letters
- believe2, imagine3, suspect2, presume2, surmise2
- 8 letters
- consider3, conceive2, theorize3, theorise
- 9 letters
- speculate3, postulate3
- 10 letters
- conjecture3
- 11 letters
- hypothesize4, hypothesise, hypothecate, hypothetise
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (fancy2 = 2 syllables).